


WANTED: fake gay boyfriend to piss off my homophobic mom (free cruise)

by Lynn1998



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adult Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), B list celebrity Richie Tozier, Dysfunctional Family, Eddie Kaspbrak is Bad at Feelings, Eddie Kaspbrak is So Done, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Eddie Kaspbrak's Internalized Homophobia, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family Drama, Fluff and Humor, Homophobic Sonia Kaspbrak, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, M/M, Oblivious Richie Tozier, Past Drug Addiction, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris Are Best Friends, Richie Tozier Flirts, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is Bad at Feelings, Richie Tozier is a Dork, Richie is a recovered drug addict and he talks about it, Romantic Tension, Sexual Tension, Soft Eddie Kaspbrak, Sonia Kaspbrak Being Terrible, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, The original characters are Eddies aunts, yes I wrote a fake dating AU finally
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:14:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28589349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynn1998/pseuds/Lynn1998
Summary: TW for basically the entire story: mentions of drug use, addiction, homophobic middle class white women, internalized homophobia, alcohol
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 80
Kudos: 229





	1. “You pathetic worm.”

_Regardless of if you are actually gay or not doesn’t matter to me, but if you’re straight you need to understand that we will be acting gay the whole time. That means holding hands, kissing, hugging, maybe cuddling, and most definitely sharing a bed. If you are insecure in your masculinity then please refrain from contacting me because it would be very disruptive if you were constantly trying to say “no homo” to everything._

_With that out of the way, I need a fake boyfriend to go on a Caribbean cruise next month with me and my family. My mother bought me an extra ticket because she insisted that I bring a girlfriend to hopefully woe into marriage. I don’t care to get married to anyone, so my only intent is to piss her and my three aunts off so much by bringing a man instead of a woman. You will receive a first class ticket that includes a spacious room (that we will share), infinite refills at the bar, complimentary meals three times a day, and a lovely vacation to the Caribbean._

_If you want more compensation after my mother and aunts have harassed you, I’m open to negotiation. Although please refrain from asking for more compensation until after they’ve traumatized you. Sometimes they surprise me and aren’t that bad, but if they behave poorly I’m more than understanding. I wish they compensated ME for their time as well._

_It doesn’t matter what you look like, but the hairier and the manlier the better. If you’re above 5’9” that’s extra points. I want them to think I’ve been emasculated and that my choice in men stems from some ridiculous homophobic stereotype that involves daddy issues. Also, they will most definitely be homophobic._

_If this interests you at all, and you have an odd taste for causing chaos, then please feel free to reach out to the Craigslist email at the top. I check my email often, so I should be able to get back to you soon._

_Thank you for reading. I hope to hear from you soon. -E_

Richie reread the ad five times before he began to grasp what a gold mine he stumbled upon. A free cruise? And an opportunity to wreak havoc and throw a wrench into some homophobic lady’s family life? On top of that, he gets free drinks? He’d be stupid not to apply. He was originally looking for acting jobs, but this was way more entertaining then any job he’d find on there. It wasn’t like he needed the job anyways, but it was fun to scout and shock independents by applying for an audition.

“Stan! Come look at this!” Richie called over his shoulder. His best friend sighed before setting down his cup of tea and walking over to where Richie was sat on the couch. He was visiting from Georgia to see Richie and Bill for the Fourth of July weekend.

“What?” He deadpanned. Richie grinned and turned his laptop towards his friend. Stan pulled up his readers and went through the entire thing twice before blinking at it. “What…the fuck?”

“Isn’t it great? I think I’m gonna apply,” Richie said with a giddy smile.

“Richie, this is ludicrous. This man only wants to torture his homophobic mother. Which is valid, but a little bit on the crazy side,” he said.

“And _I_ want a free cruise with free drinks,” Richie replied and took his laptop back.

“We’re in our thirties and more than financially stable now, Richie. You could _buy_ the cruise ship. Also, you will most definitely be recognized by at least one person,” Stan pointed out.

“Wouldn’t that be great? I just came out publicly too, so they won’t be able to think I’m lying about being gay!” Richie countered. Stanley sighed and pulled off his glasses to stuff in his breast pocket again.

“At the end of the day you somehow qualify as an adult, and I cannot do anything to stop you. You can do whatever the hell you want,” he said and turned back to tend to his tea.

“Thank you for your blessing!” Richie smiled and then clicked the email at the top.

The next morning he received a response. His own email consisted a paragraph detailing his interest in the job and why he thought he was the best fit for it. He also included his headshots and a list of all the projects he’s been apart of like he would for any acting job. It was kind of funny to him to be so formal about it, but he made sure to keep it loose by adding a goofy full body picture of him on set from his last movie he was apart of. Needless to say, the original poster was…not very taken.

  
_Asshole_ ,

_Look, I know my original post was kind of out there, but to try and trick me into thinking the actual actor and comedian Richie Tozier wants to play my fake boyfriend is just absurd and a waste of my time._

_Please refrain from contacting me again. I don’t have time to deal with internet trolls when I’m trying to address a real issue in my life._

_I hope you have fun owning the n00bs during your next call of duty tournament._

_You pathetic worm._

It sent Richie rolling in his bed. He nearly fell out of it laughing so hard, and Stan had to knock and ask what the fuck was so funny. He showed him the email, and then started laughing again before he could even finish it. Stanley did give him a light chuckle when he did, and then handed him back his phone.

“You’ve confused the poor guy. You should probably just give him your phone number and tell him to FaceTime you,” Stan suggested.

“Good idea.”

 _E_ ,

_Please FaceTime me at xxx-xxx-xxxx._

_R. Tozier_

He sent that email an hour ago, and just as he was brewing his coffee and buttering his toast his phone rang. It was an unidentified number, and he gladly wiped the butter off his fingers to answer it. His screen was immediately filled with the image of deeply furrowed brows and an even deeper frown. Wide brown eyes glared at him while he grinned, and light freckles popped across his cheeks.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Was the first thing the man said.

“Hey! Nice to meet you. I’m Richie,” Richie said as he leaned over the counter.

“This has to be a joke. What are you? Some kind of look alike?” The man continued with scrutinizing eyes. Richie chuckled.

“No, uh…I’m actually Richie Tozier. Sorry if this is a shock, but your email was just…too fucking funny not to try,” Richie said.

“What the fuck…wait, you actually want the job?” He asked incredulously. Richie nodded. Anger turned into confusion turned into shock all in front of him. He was pretty cute too.

“Listen, I know it might be much, but I’m six two and indeed on the hairy side. I fit what you’re looking for, and I’m very publicly and actually gay so they can’t argue that I’m not,” Richie pleaded his case, but the poor man was still trying to process everything with his jaw on the floor. Richie sighed. “Look, you’re in New York right? I’m gonna be there next week. Let’s meet up for coffee and figure this out, okay? I’ll keep in touch until then,” he proposed.

“This has to be like a bad dream or something. Maybe a nightmare?” The man muttered to himself. Stan chuckled from the living room.

“What’s your name, if you don’t mind?”

“Eddie…Eddie Kaspbrak,” he answered.

“I’ll see you next week, Eddie. I’ll text you where to meet me,” Richie assured him. Eddie gave a slow nod before Richie hung up and laughed.

“You traumatized him,” Stan accused.

“No I didn’t. He’s just in shock.”

“Do you really want this job? It sounds kinda…stressful. I mean, thankfully you won’t be constantly harassed for autographs since your audience doesn’t include a lot of elderly white women, but still. He did say they are homophobic.”

“It’ll be worth it. Free drinks, remember?”

“You’re an alcoholic,” Stan reminded him.

“Yes, but I’ve been to rehab! I also did cocaine for nine years. C’mon, Stan, what other vices of mine are you gonna criticize?”

“The fact that you did whippets instead of ketamine when given the chance,” Stan said.

“I’ve already snorted shit, I wanted to see what everyone was so hyped about.”

“That not a very good reason.”

“Go bother Bill today, why don’t ya? I’m not in the mood for your sass, young man,” Richie teased. Stan rolled his eyes and smiled.

As hard as Richie tried to keep in touch with Eddie though out the week, he was finding that he was scarce in his responses. Short one word answers, liking the text instead of answering it, and sometimes no response at all. Just the little “read” sign under Richie’s last message. When the week was finally up and Richie was walking to the cafe he told Eddie to meet him at, he actually started to get worried he wouldn’t show. Thankfully he was already there. He looked much cuter in person, and was glancing around the cafe with wide eyes. His thumbs twiddled as he sat, and his spine was straighter than a pole. Eventually, he spotted Richie, and it was the same shocked expression as on the phone. Richie offered him a warm smile and wave before walking over to his table and sitting down across from him.

“Hey, Eddie Kaspbrak, right?” He asked extending his hand to shake. The man nodded, and looked at Richie’s hands while keeping his own in front of him. Richie nodded and pulled it away. “Right, anyways—“

“Is this some kind of prank? Did someone pay you to trick me into thinking you actually wanna do this for me?” Eddie interrupted immediately. Richie blinked.

“Uh, what? No. That’s so cruel, I’d never accept a job like that,” he replied. Eddie sighed and ran his fingers stressfully through his hair.

“This is crazy. How the hell did you find my ad?” Eddie asked. Richie shrugged.

“I knew I would be in New York this month, and I like to look through Craigslist between projects. It’s just a way to fill the time,” he answered honestly. It helped him stay away from the party scene, and, more importantly, away from any drugs.

“Sorry I’ve been so distant and…God, this is just too good to be true, honestly. It’s unbelievable,” Eddie said as he pulled his hands down and rubbed at his chin in thought. He stared intensely at Richie, and while Richie enjoyed having the man’s attention it was also a little intimidating.

“Uh…I mean, if you found someone else for the job that’s okay. It just sounded like a lot of fun,” Richie assured him. Eddie shook his head and reached down for his cup.

“No, you’re perfect for it. I was literally imagining someone like you because my mother absolutely hates your stand up. The minute she hears your voice in any movie she demands to change it,” Eddie explained. Richie laughed nervously.

“Oh. Is she going to attack me if I come?” He joked.

“She probably won’t,” Eddie replied sounding genuine.

“Uh, probably?”

“My main issue is I don’t think she would believe that we’re dating,” he said, ignoring Richie’s concern. Although that did snap him back into the conversation as he was forced to acknowledge his level of fame. In New York and Los Angeles nobody batted an eye, but anywhere else he’d get recognized a few times.

“Right…yeah, that would be kind of…odd, but you could always tell her we met a long time ago and had to lay low until I could come out,” Richie suggested. Eddie rolled his eyes at first and scoff.

“No way. She’d never fall for…” he trailed off as he processed Richie’s proposal and blinked at his cup. “Wait, she might actually fall for that. That’s not that bad.”

“Thanks. I did improv in college.”

“Shut up. I’m still thinking about this,” Eddie replied and sipped his drink. Based on his attitude Richie guessed he drank his coffee black. If he wasn’t so cute he might’ve been annoyed, but regardless he was above all entertained.

“Does she already know you’re gay, or are you just trying to spring it on her without telling her?” Richie asked.

“I’m not gay,” Eddie announced. Richie frowned.

“Oh? So you’re straight?”

“I don’t think so,” he replied with a light blush.

“Bisexual? Pan? Ace?”

“I’m undecided,” he said.

“So you’re questioning?” Richie asked. It wasn’t like he needed Eddie to label himself, but it was interesting considering he wanted to lead his mother to believe that he is gay.

“No, I’m undecided. I decided it wasn’t worth deciding if I’m gay or straight or whatever else you said,” Eddie said simply before leaning back a little. At least he wasn’t freaking out any more.

“I see. Yeah, totally. Makes perfect sense,” Richie said even though he was clearly still confused. Eddie rolled his eyes.

“It doesn’t matter, okay? This is purely to piss her off for making my life a living hell. I have no interest in marriage, but she’s been nagging me for grandchildren since I moved out,” Eddie explained. Richie nodded.

“Alright. Fair enough. We all got our mommy issues.”

“I don’t have mommy issues. She’s just a bad mom.”

“Sure thing, Eds,” Richie nodded with a smirk. He was adorable, but insanely neurotic and purposefully obtuse.

“Don’t call me Eds. That’ll drive me crazy.”

“When’s this cruise by the way? Like the exact dates? My manager likes to know where I am at all times,” Richie asked.

“We have to leave the state for Florida on the first of August, and then the boat leaves on the second. It’s two nights and three days to the Bahamas,” Eddie answered.

“The Bahamas? I thought you said Caribbean?”

“The Bahamas are in the Caribbean, dumbass.”

“No they’re not…are they?” Richie pondered.

“How do you not know that the Bahamas are in the Caribbean? The Caribbean is a sea! How fucking old are you?” Eddie snapped. He seemed more annoyed than mad, and Richie couldn’t help but smile at how easily riled up he was.

“I must’ve slept through that lecture on the Bahamas in middle school. Damn, I really missed out on that,” Richie teased. Eddie shook his head.

“You’re a fucking nuisance. As much as I fear for my own sanity, you’ll definitely ruin my mother’s first,” he said.

“Does that mean I get the job?” Richie asked with a wide smile.

“I guess. Although, I shouldn’t drink coffee around you. Dealing with you would be much better if my bones didn’t feel like jelly,” Eddie grumbled.

“Fair enough. We should probably spend some time getting to know each other too until it’s time to leave. It’ll be easier for them to believe that it’s real,” Richie suggested. Eddie raised a brow.

“You don’t get credit for that idea. That came right out of _The Proposal_ , and Sandra Bullock would be disappointed,” Eddie accused. Richie laughed.

“You’re pretty funny too, Eds! I hope you stick to your day job or else I’m gonna be wiped out,” he said. Eddie blushed again and hunched over his cup.

“I’m not funny. You just have a shitty sense of humor…”

“That’s definitely true. Anyway, I’ll just let my manager know I’m busy until after the first week of August. What’s your schedule?” Richie said while pulling out his phone and texting said manager.

“I work a nine to five. Weekends off and all. I took an extra week off beforehand for this exact reason, so we should be able to work together more consistently in a couple weeks,” Eddie told him.

“Well, with the way things are going they’re going to think you have a weird professionalism kink. You can just say that we’re gonna hangout and go on dates,” Richie told him. Eddie frowned.

“Dates? No, we’re not actually dating.”

“I get that, but we should at least go out in public together more often incase someone takes my photo. That way you have actual proof that we were speaking before you went on the cruise,” Richie explained. Eddie thought and then nodded.

“Yeah…okay, you’re right.”

“But maybe you should let me take you on a date. I can show you why they call me trash mouth,” Richie grinned leaning closer over the table. Eddie was bright red hearing that, and his jaw dropped once again.

“I…n-no way! What the hell? Like I’d let you do anything that disgusting to me,” Eddie spat, but Richie was merely laughing again.

“Calm your noggin there, Eddie spaghetti, you’re gonna pop a vain. I’m just playing with you,” Richie assured him. Eddie glared off at the ground, but his cheeks were still red.

“You’re an asshole…you got the job.”


	2. “B list comedian.”

The weeks leading up to the cruise were…eventful. To say the least. Richie took some time to get settled in his New York condo again, and sorted out his schedule with his manager too. He met up with Eddie a couple more times before his time off, and Richie wasn’t surprised to see photos of them already circulating with rumors of their relationship. It wasn’t front page news, but internet tabloids were definitely having fun with the story. With celebrity gossip aside, Richie was learning that Eddie was very smart, very stubborn, and very _specific_. Eddie wouldn’t let Richie call him paranoid or a germaphobe, but that was what he meant by specific. He was particular about everything, and obsessed with his hand sanitizer. Every time they finished something, eating, getting out of the subway, leaving a restaurant, he pulled out his little bottle and squirt a dollop onto Richie’s palm and then his own. That on its own was fine, but paired with the fact that he washed down everything with a disinfectant wipe before interacting with it was a little bit much. His defense was that New York was disgusting and he wouldn’t do it in a less populated city. Even then, Richie couldn’t help be love it.

The first time Richie stepped inside Eddie’s apartment they had six days before they were leaving the state. While he was expecting something neat and tidy, he was still surprised by just how extreme Eddie could be. His entire apartment looked like a magazine spread for interior design sponsored by Clorox. There was literally nothing out of line, and Eddie looked even more perfectly in place when he lead Richie into his office. Of course he had an office too. Somehow this man managed to simultaneously be the most put together person Richie had ever met as well as the most unhinged bursting at the seams. 

They didn’t do much the first day except talk. Eddie went over the schedule again, and Richie teased him like he usually does. Then they drank coffee and gave each other basic information that any partner would know, and then put together the story of how they met and started dating. The second day was much much different.

“Eddie! Why the _fuck_ are you on my Twitter feed with _Richie Tozier?_ ” A snappy feminine voice came through the apartment as Richie washed his hands in the bathroom. He felt a little sheepish hearing his own name, and decided to be quiet as he wiped his hands off on a towel.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” Eddie’s voice came next.

“I’m the boss, so I took a long lunch. Seriously though. Are you dating him? Why didn’t you tell me first?” The woman asked.

“I’m not dating him. He responded to my ad that _you_ told me to post,” Eddie answered.

“Hold on…this B list comedian actually responded to your ad?” She asked. Richie felt that hit to his ego like a slap in the face, and decided to reveal himself before anything else was said.

“Yeah, I thought it was some internet troll at first. He responded super professionally like it was an actual job,” Eddie replied as he entered the room. He cleared his throat, and the two looked at him. Richie was pleased to see a woman about his age with bright red hair standing in Eddie’s living room. Eddie was finishing up the lunch they made together, and Richie did his best not to look as awkward as he felt.

“Uh, hey,” he said with a little wave.

“Fuck…” the woman said in response.

“Richie, this is Beverly. She’s one of my best friends,” Eddie introduced. Richie smiled and held out his hand.

“Hi, I’m Richie,” he said as casually as he could manage with the way she was looking at him.

“I know who you are,” she replied as she accepted the handshake. At least she did that much.

“Great! Less explaining to do,” he joked, but it clearly fell flat.

“What do you want from Eddie? Are you trying to get something out of this?” She asked. Richie opened his mouth, but Eddie beat him to it.

“I’ve already interrogated him. He’s just bored,” Eddie assured her. Beverly’s entire demeanor changed and she smiled.

“Oh. Okay. Well, I’m glad you’re willing to help Eddie out,” she said. Richie nodded.

“Anytime.”

“How long is your lunch?” Eddie asked. She looked back to her friend and then shrugged.

“As long as I want?”

“I’d offer to eat with you, but Richie and I already ate,” he said.

“That’s okay, Eds. Are you guys getting ready to annoy the shit out of Sonia?” She asked taking a seat on the couch next to Eddie. He nodded, but Richie merely frowned in confusion.

“Sonia?”

“My mother,” Eddie answered. “I told you her name last week.”

“Eds, it takes either takes three times or clear and direct delivery for me to know something like that,” Richie told him.

“Sonia, S-O-N-I-A, is my mother. Do you got that now?” Eddie snarked. Richie smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Yessir, mister. Thank you, sir,” Richie replied and walked back to the kitchen to grab his drink he left earlier.

“Asshole…and don’t call me Eds!” Eddie called. Richie merely chuckled.

The third day Richie learned that getting to know Eddie was a lot easier with Beverly there. She would constantly fill in any blanks, and happily tell Richie anything he wanted to know. Eddie seemed displeased by this, but clearly loved his friend too much to kick her out. They went for another outing on the fourth day, and by the fifth day there were more articles about their affairs. The night before their flight Richie had to assure his manager that everything would be fine, and that he wasn’t going to confirm or deny his relationship to any reporters. He wasn’t expecting anyone to ask him directly anyways, but was surprised by a rouge journalist stopping them on their way to the TSA line. Richie was tired and flustered, so he merely said _no comment_ as he trained himself too in his rehab days.

“Fuck…” Eddie sighed as the captain announced the plan would start taking off soon. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an inhaler which he proceeded to huff it like gasoline. Richie had never seen someone take their inhaler so aggressively, and was surprised to see it actually work a little bit.

“You okay there, Eds?” Richie asked. He nodded and then took a second puff.

“Yeah. Traveling just makes me nervous. Don’t call me Eds,” he replied.

“Well, we’re gonna have to act like we’re dating as soon as we see your family, so I’d suggest getting comfortable with the nicknames,” Richie replied.

“Please, god no. Your nicknames are _terrible_ ,” Eddie wheezed.

“Aw, you’re breaking my heart. I thought you loved me, Eddie-bear. My little Eddie spaghetti. I’m crushed, baby cakes,” Richie teased.

“God, I really bit myself in the ass with this,” he mumbled as he covered his face with his hand.

“I can bite your ass too if you want, sweetheart,” Richie purred. Eddie was about to heckle him some more, but gasped instead as the plan started moving.

“Shit shit _shit_ ,” he hissed. His hand immediately grabbed for Richie’s arm, and Richie was more than happy to hold his other hand over his tight grip.

“Hey, you’re okay, Eds. Just a little movement,” he assured him.

“I didn’t even wanna go on this stupid cruise. I hate my mother so much. She fucking knows how much I hate planes,” he said. Richie felt a little bit of guilt and a lot of sympathy as Eddie only clung to his arm tighter. The plane started to tilt up, and he fully buried his face in Richie’s shoulder.

“It’s only for a couple hours, alright? I gotcha,” Richie cooed.

“I’m surprised you’re not trying to make fun of me right now…seems like something an asshole would do,” Eddie grumbled.

“Right now? God no. Maybe later when we land, but like you’re a minute away from a panic attack. You don’t need that,” Richie said. Eddie was quiet for a moment and flinched as the plane started to level out and flatten again. “See? We’re all good. Nice and horizontal,” he told him.

“You’ve shocked me out of my panic attack. I didn’t think you could be so nice,” Eddie said. Richie laughed and kissed the top of his head. He jerked back before Richie could say anything, and blinked up at him with wide eyes and red cheeks.

“Uh…was that…not okay?” Richie asked. Eddie opened his mouth for a moment before shutting it and then looking away.

“I…I mean, obviously we’re going to have to be affectionate for the next three or four days, so…I guess it’s fine. I just didn’t expect it,” he answered. Richie watched his blush get deeper and once again thought about how cute this man was.

“Well…” he subtly slid their fingers together so Eddie was holding his hand instead of his arm. “Maybe we should start getting used to it so we can expect it,” he said. Eddie looked down at their fingers and then back up at Richie before nodding.

“Okay…yeah, that makes sense,” he agreed. Richie smirked and then leaned in to kiss Eddie on the forehead. He made sure to do it slower so he wouldn’t be surprised, and then pulled back with a wide smile. He was pleased to see Eddie’s blush back to its bright red color from before.

“Good?” Richie asked. Eddie coyly avoided his eyes, and then nodded.

“…good.”

Eddie held Richie’s hand throughout the entire flight, and Richie was more than happy to let him. His grip tightened at any sign of turbulence, and Richie made sure to run his thumb against the back of his hand to help calm him. If the flight had been any longer, Richie might’ve fallen asleep. Just when he feared he would start dosing off the captain announced their descent, and he was snapped into attention by the feeling of Eddie’s hands around his arm again. For someone who was usually so independent and doting, it was kind of cute to see him so needy for once. Of course, Richie wished he could witness it when he wasn’t in genuine fear for his life, but he took pride in the fact that he was able to calm him down at least a little bit.

When the wheels finally hit the ground, Eddie finally started to calm down enough to put away his inhaler. They waited for the first class cabin to leave, and then started collecting their bags since they sat closer to the front then the rest of the plane. Richie offered to upgrade their tickets to first class, but Eddie’s stubbornness prevented Richie from contributing any money to the trip. They grabbed their bags, and then made a beeline out of the airport to call a cab to their hotel for the night. Eddie booked them a room with two beds, and Richie found that odd considering they would be sleeping in a one bed suite for the next couple nights afterwards. He contributed it to his own comfort level, and didn’t bother to question it since he was still a little nervous after the flight.

“You alright there, Eds?” Richie asked. Eddie nodded despite still looking a little pale.

“Yeah, I’m just having a stress headache,” he replied.

“Damn. How are you going to survive being in a boat for three days?” He asked with a teasing tone.

“I’m better on the water. My dad would take me out fishing when I was little. I got sea sick really easily back then, but I got used to it over the years,” Eddie answered.

“Oh. Is he going to be on the cruise too?” Richie asked.

“He…died when I was ten,” Eddie answered. Richie nodded.

“Right. That would make it difficult for him to make it on time, huh?” He joked. Eddie tried not to smile, but failed before shaking his head.

“You’re really not funny. That wasn’t funny,” Eddie said.

“But you’re smiling. It must’ve been at least a little bit funny,” Richie poked as he drew a grin as well. Eddie tried to fight it again and ended up looking away and lightly blushing. Richie was starting to develop a fondness for the deeper color, and stepped closer. “C’mon, Eds. It’s killing you not to laugh, huh?”

“I’m not laughing,” Eddie insisted. Richie gently touched his chin to make Eddie look at him, and watched as bit back his obvious amusement.

“You’re pretty darn cute. You know that?” Richie murmured. Eddie’s blush deepened and he looked like he wanted to say something insulting.

“I’m…I’m just a man, Richie,” he replied instead.

“Well, yeah, but men are pretty cute. I know you’re undecided, but do you find men attractive at all?” Richie continued. Eddie let his lip go and tried to look away again.

“I mean…I…yeah. I find men attractive. I just…don’t really feel the need to date anyone or get married,” he answered.

“That’s totally fine, Eds. I’m just curious, y’know? Like, I know this is all for show, but I wouldn’t wanna make you uncomfortable or anything,” Richie said. He gently pulled his hand away from Eddie’s face, and smiled when he looked at him.

“We should try kissing,” Eddie announced suddenly and firmly. Richie blinked and then raised his brows in surprise when he registered that demand.

“Oh—you mean like on the lips?” He asked. Eddie nodded.

“We need be able to do it naturally, so our first one shouldn’t be in front of anyone,” he explained. Richie hesitated, and then eventually nodded in agreement.

“Okay…uh, yeah. Sure. As long as you’re okay with it, I’m for it,” Richie allowed. Eddie nodded and then stood still. They were quiet for a moment before Eddie raised an expecting brow. “What?”

“What are you waiting for? Kiss me,” Eddie said.

“Shit, sorry, I didn’t realize you meant…sorry, never mind.”

Richie shut his mouth, and instead focused on Eddie’s lips. They weren’t very big, but they look very soft instead. Richie licked his own and then gently cupped Eddie’s jaw to tilt his head up. Eddie followed his guidance, and Richie kept his eyes on Eddie’s mouth as he leaned in. Eventually his eyes shut as he got closer, and he felt a little bit of relief when their lips met. It was a gentle, subtle kiss, and as they touched Richie tried to remember the last time he kissed someone. It must’ve been back in his party days with a random person he couldn’t remember if he tried. The last meaningful kiss he had must’ve been in eleventh grade. The last chaste kiss he had was in middle school.

As short and as straightforward as that kiss he shared with Eddie was, he couldn’t help but feel a tug at his heart when they ended it. He blinked down at the other man and was pleased to see him red and flustered again. His eyes not as wide as usual after something shocking, and his lips already a shade darker from the pressure of Richie’s mouth. Before Richie could say anything about it, Eddie was reaching up on his tip toes to kiss Richie again. The first kiss was already more than what Richie expected, but the second kiss left him breathless. He let Eddie lead the kiss, and huffed when he pulled back again. Just two kisses with Eddie left Richie needing more air, and based on the deep breath Eddie took he was just as affected.

“That was…” Richie trailed off.

“Good. That was good. Very…easy,” Eddie said and then cleared his throat. He took a step back away from Richie and put his hands by his sides. Somehow they had made their way around Richie’s biceps again when they were kissing.

“Yeah…easy. Definitely…easy,” Richie agreed. Eddie nodded, and then jumped when there was a knock on the door. He frowned.

“Who could that be?” He mumbled before walking over to answer it. There was a second impatient knock before Eddie opened it, and Richie couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“Eddie! Why didn’t you call me when you landed?”

“Mom? What are you doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you for the nice comments on the first chapter! I’m glad you guys enjoy it so much already <3


	3. “Don’t fuck your boss.”

“Mom, I told you I’d meet you and everyone else at the docks tomorrow,” Eddie said. Richie could only hope that he was to the side enough that Eddie’s mother couldn’t see him like he couldn’t see her.

“You texted Mary where you are, but you couldn’t call me? I don’t understand, Eddie-kins,” she said. Her voice was shrill and whiny. It was worse than nails on a chalk board.

“I texted Mary because she helped me book the hotel. I’m just getting settled in,” Eddie insisted.

“Did you at least bring someone with you? You’re breaking my heart letting me think about how lonely you must be,” she continued. Sheesh. Talk about a mommy _with_ issues.

“I…yeah, I brought someone. We’re trying to get settled though, so it would be nice if we had our space to do that,” Eddie replied.

“Really? Oh, Eddie I’m so happy to hear that! What’s her name? How long have you been with her?” She asked. Richie could feel Eddie panicking from the door, and decided to clear his throat and walk over.

“Honey? Did I put my toiletries in your bag? Or did I leave them in the bathroom?” Richie asked as he walked over. It was a genuine question, but he felt the need to step in at that time. He walked over to stand next to Eddie and put a warm hand around his waist. He then looked up to see his mother’s face pinched and red as she glared up at him. “Hi! You must be Sonia. I’m Richie. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he greeted holding out his free hand. Eddie seemed to ease back into the hand against his spine, and Richie felt accomplished in easing some of his anxiety.

“You…you…what are you doing here? Is this some kind of sick joke, Eddie? Why is this man in your room?” She snapped.

“Look, I know it seems a little weird, but—“

“You’re not trying to imply that you have some sort of relationship with this _terrible_ human being?” She interrupted giving Richie a disgusted up and down with her eyes. He pulled his hand away and chuckled.

“Ah, I see you know who I am. Eds warned me you weren’t a fan. All’s good. Can’t win them all, y’know?”

“My son is not a homosexual like you. Leave before I call the police.”

“Mom, if you call the police they’ll think you’re crazy and hold you overnight,” Eddie warned her. She snapped her glare to him, and Richie could feel him tense up again.

“For what? I’m doing nothing wrong!”

“You’re being a disturbance, and this is a nice hotel. If you call the police simply because I have a boyfriend and you don’t like him, best case scenario they laugh and hang up,” he explained. She pouted, clearly unable to argue with his logic.

“Look, Sonia, I know my public image isn’t exactly pristine, but Eddie is a wonderful guy. I’m really honored to be apart of this trip, and I think it’s really lovely that you’re so concerned about his loneliness and livelihood,” Richie said turning on his charm. He could be well spoken when he wanted to, and he could tell Eddie was impressed with his ability to turn this conversation for the better.

“When did you even meet my son? Aren’t you a celebrity?” She challenged. Richie chuckled and shrugged.

“Depends on where I am, honestly,” he said.

“We met in New York…where I live? Remember?” Eddie sassed. Richie nodded.

“I was writing for a couple different shows, and I accidentally spilled coffee all over Eddie in the morning. I offered to pay for his dry cleaning and his coffee, and after trading numbers I just couldn’t stay away,” Richie explained. Sonia looked like a kid being cornered and scolded. Her arms crossed stubbornly, and her lips pulled into a scowl throughout the whole story.

“…this is still unacceptable. I won’t tolerate this. He’s not going on the cruise with us,” she said.

“Mom, Mary is the one who bought the tickets, and we already have them. You can’t stop him from coming. You told me to bring someone I like, and I did. Can we please get settled now?” Eddie asked sternly. She huffed and then shook her head in disappointment.

“I can’t believe you would do this to me, Eddie. I hope you’re happy with yourself,” she said dramatically before walking off. Eddie rolled his eyes and then closed the door. Richie could see how much that drained him, and used the arm on the small of his back to gently guide him into a hug. He was surprised to feel Eddie reciprocate, and rested his cheek against his soft brown hair.

“You okay?” Richie asked. Eddie sighed and allowed himself to nuzzle against and indulge in Richie’s chest.

“Yeah…I’ll be okay. She’s just a lot to deal with,” he murmured. Richie chuckled and nodded.

“You can say that again. She sounded awful in your description, but that was worse than words can describe,” he agreed.

“Ugh…I just want to avoid her. As happy as I am that this’ll piss her off, I’m not looking forward to the homophobic lectures she’s going to give me,” Eddie grumbled.

“We can do our own thing. It’s a cruise! I’m sure they have plenary of fun activities we can use to distract ourselves,” Richie assured him. Eddie nodded and then looked up at him with a little smile of his own.

“Thanks for coming. It’s…nice having someone on my side for once,” he said. Richie nodded and gently caressed Eddie’s jaw.

“Of course. After that Craigslist ad, I really couldn’t say no,” he teased. Eddie blushed and moved up on his toes to kiss Richie again. It took him by surprise, but he accepted it regardless as they let it linger. Eddie broke it too, and Richie blinked down at him craving more already.

“Your toiletries are already in the shower. You said you were going to take a shower after we unpacked,” Eddie told him and then promptly turned to tend to his bags again. Richie blinked and then nodded.

“Right…yeah, I remember now. Uh…I think I’ll just grab my jammies and shower now instead,” he said trying not to think too hard about how cute that was. Eddie wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“Jammies? How fucking old are you?” He asked. Richie laughed and grabbed his night clothes from his bag.

“Too old.”

Everything seemed to be shifting from _we are odd co-workers for this strange job_ to _we actually need to act like we’re in love now so things are getting romantic_ , and the change was almost like whiplash. Ever since he met Eddie things have always felt a little hot and cold, but now that they’ve become affectionate Richie was reminded that he was actually pathetically weak for attractive men and would melt the second one gave him any attention. Thankfully, Eddie was just as distant as he was in New York for the rest of the evening, and Richie was able to have his mental break down in peace. His shower didn’t really help. It actually made things worse because it immediately followed that last kiss Eddie gave him and suddenly all he could think about was how cute and how shy he looked before doing it. That and about how he wanted at least twelve more before they went to bed. 

Unfortunately he didn’t get anymore, and instead got a mere glance as Eddie turned off his phone and got up to take his own shower. He shut the door behind him, and Richie took that opportunity to take his phone off his charger and call his best friend, Stanley. It rang out once, and Richie redialed it much like a child trying to force a square block through a round hole. Stan answered the second time, and Richie was relieved to hear his voice.

“What is it, Richie? I’m in the middle of a puzzle,” Stan deadpanned.

“I have a problem…I think I’m falling in love with him,” Richie announced. He stayed on the quiet side, and then sighed as he hears the water turn on again.

“Who?”

“Eddie. The guy who wrote the ad,” he answered.

“You’re falling in love with the guy who hired you to be his fake boyfriend. This is the worst example of method acting I’ve ever heard of.”

“Oh, har har. I’m dying of laughter.”

“Why do you think you’re falling in love with him?” Stan asked in that voice he used to let Richie know he was only indulging him and he didn’t actually care.

“I dunno. He’s really cute, for one. Like kind of unbelievable he doesn’t have an actual partner, but he says he’s single by choice, so…yeah.”

“Is that all? He’s nice to look at?”

“Ugh, I _wish_ that was the only thing I love about him. He’s absolutely _insane_ , dude. He’s got all these weird habits and he’s so fucking sassy. It’s so easy to rile him up, and I just wanna watch him yell at me forever,” Richie explained rather poorly.

“That sounds borderline masochistic, Rich.”

“It’s not though. He’s just being cute, y’know? Like it’s obvious he’s only reacting that way because he’s nervous and flustered, and it’s so adorable.”

“Is he actually gay? Or is it just to piss off his mom?” Stan questioned.

“Uh…I mean, he said he finds men attractive, but he doesn’t want to decide his sexuality. He said he’s undecided,” Richie explained.

“Fair enough. That shits a headache. I just decided on bisexual and called it a day,” Stan agreed.

“Must be hard for you multi gender loving people.”

“Silence, you filthy monosexual.”

“My liege! Please, I beg of your approval of my immoral ways!” Richie cried dramatically.

“Your crimes may never be forgiven, you heathen.”

“Why did we never get into DND when we were younger? That seems like something we should’ve been fucking great at,” Richie pondered.

“We weren’t that type of nerd. Also, Bill sucks at board games,” Stan pointed out.

“That’s the great thing though, it doesn’t have to be on a board. It’s a role playing game,” Richie told him.

“Oh god. We probably didn’t play because both of us didn’t wanna deal with a thirteen year old dungeon master in a Hawaiian shirt trying to read and count the dice for perception,” Stan sassed.

“Hey, I would’ve been a great dungeon master. I’m a man of many talents.”

“Yeah, and counting isn’t one of them.”

“You wound me Staniel. I call you to cry about my woes and you insult me on my arithmetic,” Richie sighed.

“Eddie is your boss. Don’t fall in love with your boss,” Stan deadpanned.

“But my boss is really cute and he’s got soft lips,” Richie pouted.

“Wait, are you guys actually kissing? Like alone? Not just to show off that you’re fake dating to his mom? Who fucking suggested that? That’s just a recipe for disaster,” Stan went off.

“Uh, Eddie suggested it actually. He said it would look unnatural if we didn’t practice at least once. I mean, he knows his family best, so…yeah,” Richie told him. Stan was quiet for a moment before sighing.

“God, so you’re both stupid. That makes so much more sense,” he said.

“That’s a little rude.”

“Whatever. Just remember that, in this scenario, he’s you’re boss. Don’t fuck your boss.”

“You said don’t fall in love with him the first time,” Richie pointed out.

“Knowing you, if you’re actually sticking your dick in someone instead of just making jokes about it, your heart is already in _way_ deeper then it could ever reach,” Stan said. Richie opened his mouth to argue, but paused as he found himself agreeing with that analysis.

“Alright. Fair enough.”

“Are you done harassing me yet? I’m almost done with this corner.”

“Ugh, fine. I’ll set you free now,” Richie allowed.

“Thank you. Good luck on your fake boyfriend job. Hope you make it out in one piece. Don’t update me along the way.”

“Love you too, Stanley.”

“Love you, Rich,” Stan replied before hanging up. Richie sighed and plugged his phone back in.

“Fucking bastard.”


	4. “Deplorable so called comedian.”

The next morning Richie was greeted by the sound of Eddie’s alarm much earlier than he wanted to. He groaned at the sound, and easily fell back asleep as Eddie turned it off and got up to take a morning shower. Richie stayed in bed until he was being shoved awake by a new fully dressed and groomed Eddie. He blinked up at him slowly, and then sighed before getting up and dressing himself. They were supposed to meet Eddie’s family at the docks right at noon, and it was nearly ten by the time Richie was fully dressed and ready. They decided to eat a quick breakfast before the hotel stopped serving it, and then went up to grab their bags. 

The docks were a quick walk from the hotel, and Richie was confused as to why they were leaving so early. Thankfully his question was answered when Eddie stopped them at the nearest pharmacy and refilled his inhaler and anti motion sickness medication. He also picked up a new bottle of Advil and some tums while they waited, and by the time his medication was filled they were right on time to board the boat. Richie’s confusion must’ve shown through his expression because Eddie was reminding him that he said he needed to refill his prescriptions before they boarded last night. He vaguely remembered that as Eddie turned off the lights, but he was half way asleep at that time and didn’t think any important information would’ve been communicated at that time. Clearly he was wrong.

The minute they were close enough to get their tickets checked Eddie was anxiously looking around. They were allowed to board, but Eddie reluctantly said they had to stay and wait for his mother and her sisters. Luckily they didn’t have to wait for long because not five minutes later Richie heard a familiar voice approaching them.

“There! I told you. He has that deplorable so called comedian with him,” Sonia said as she and three other women with similar frames approached them. Richie blushed a little, but was distracted by the shortest woman giving Eddie a hug.

“It’s so good to see you again, dear,” she said with a much more pleasant energy.

“It’s good to see you too, Mary,” Eddie replied.

“He’s a lot taller then I thought he was,” one of the women with bleach blond hair said looking Richie up and down. He laughed nervously.

“You know what they say. The camera adds ten pounds!” He joked. She merely sucked her teeth at him.

“Eddie, you and your boyfriend are absolutely welcomed. Don’t listen to your mother. She’s just jealous,” Mary assured him. Eddie laughed, and Richie smiled. He liked Mary the most.

“Thank you. Richie, this is my aunt Mary. Of course, you know my mother. That’s Natasha, and this is Sophie,” Eddie said introducing each of his aunts. Natasha, blonder than Sonia’s highlights, was done analyzing Richie’s frame and moved onto her cell phone. Sophie had dark hair like Mary, and was only slightly taller then her as well.

“It’s so nice to meet you! I don’t think I’ve ever met a celebrity before,” Sophie said reaching out to shake his hand. Richie accepted and smiled.

“Ah, it’s nothing special. What’s really exciting is meeting you guys,” Richie said. Sophie giggled and gently pulled her hand away.

“How sweet.”

“C’mon. The boat is going to leave without us,” Natasha said walking to where everyone else was boarding. Sonia had the same glare from last night, and Richie felt a little stifled under her intense eyes. Eddie merely took his hand and pulled him towards the boat ahead of her. Richie didn’t bother to look back, but he still felt the woman’s eyes on the back of his head.

“I think your mom wants to kill me,” Richie said.

“Oh, she wants to do so much more than that,” Eddie murmured.

“What?”

“Just ignore her. She says a lot of shit but does absolutely nothing about it,” he assured him. Although Richie did not feel very assured at all.

The good news was that they had their own suite that they didn’t share with Eddie’s family members. It would’ve been awkward if he had to sleep in the same room as…any of those women, but even more so Eddie’s mother. They unpacked relatively quickly considering they only needed about two outfits, maybe three for any emergency, swimwear, and pajamas. Eddie packed two separate sets, but Richie had the same pair of flannel bottoms he had from the first night for the rest of the trip. Eddie was displeased to see it, and put an inch of space between their clothes in the drawer. Just as they were starting to get settled there was a knock at the door. Richie wasn’t too keen on answering it, but when Eddie did he was glad to see it was just Mary.

“Hey, aunt Mary. How’s your room?” He asked.

“Oh, it’s wonderful! I love how small yet spacious it is,” she smiled.

“That’s great, Mary.”

“I think the boat is about to depart. Did you want to go to the deck and wave?” She offered. Eddie laughed nervously.

“Oh, uh. You know how I am with motion sickness. I’m better when we’re already moving,” Eddie reminded her. She pouted playfully.

“Oh right. I guess I’ll just drag Sophie out instead. Natasha is too busy trying to get the WIFI password and Sonia is still being a baby,” she huffed.

“I’m sure Richie would love to join you guys,” Eddie volunteered. Richie looked up from the bed where he sat and blinked.

“Uh…”

“Oh, that would be so nice! Would you accompany me to the deck, Richard?” She asked. Richie chuckled awkwardly, but got up regardless to do so. Out of all of them, Mary seemed the nicest.

“Sure! I could use some fresh air again,” he said.

“Have fun out there…honey,” Eddie said sounding less than natural. Richie nodded as he passed him and kissed his cheek.

“Will do, darling,” he replied and then followed Mary.

They ended up getting Sophie to go as well, and leaned against the railing of the top deck as the boat left the docks. The horn went off a couple times, and Richie smiled at all the people gathered to watch it leave. It seemed like such a boring thing to do. Taking time out of your day to watch a luxury cruise leave without you and then returning to the rest of your boring day. Still, it was kind of fun to wave back at them, and it was even more fun with see Mary enjoying herself so much. Sophie was very sweet, and Richie learned that she was actually the youngest of the four. Call it stereotyping, but Richie would’ve guessed Natasha was the youngest due to her technology dependence. Mary was the oldest, and Sonia was the second oldest. They stayed on the deck and chatted while things got moving, and Richie was finding himself more comfortable with the older ladies then he thought he would be.

“I really hope you don’t take Sonia’s words to heart. We’re more than happy to have you here. She’s just stuck in her ways,” Mary said. They had found a nice deck table with chairs and an umbrella for shade.

“Yeah, Eddie warned me that she was going to be a handful. I just hope I can make it easier on him since she seems to stress him out so much,” Richie said.

“Oh, that’s so sweet of you,” Sophie cooed. He smiled and shrugged.

“It’s the least I can do.”

“How did you two meet? You must be so busy with all the movies you’ve been in the past few years,” Mary asked.

“I mean, yeah I like to stay busy and all, but I still have time outside of it. I met Eddie at a coffee shop while I was working in New York last year. I accidentally spilled coffee all over him. He was…pretty livid,” Richie answered.

“Oh, he must’ve. He likes to keep his suits nice and clean for work. He takes himself so seriously, it’s so cute,” Sophie said.

“Did Eddie ever tell you he wanted to be a firefighter when he was younger? He’d talk about it all the time! Drove his father nuts,” Mary said. Richie chuckled hearing that. From what he gathered about Eddie, while he might be good natured and a good person, he couldn’t imagine him willingly being covered in soot and ash.

“No, he didn’t. That sounds absolutely adorable,” he said.

“Oh, you have to come over for the holidays this winter. I’ll show you all his baby pictures his grandmother put together before she passed,” she invited. Richie laughed nervously.

“Oh wow. The holidays! I’ll have to clear my schedule for that, I almost forgot,” he said.

“Right? I always forget how much time Christmas takes up,” Sophie agreed. Richie chuckled nervously and then nodded. Something told Richie that Eddie didn’t plan for his aunts to be so taken by him.

“Uh, I should go check on Eds. Make sure he’s not passed out yet,” Richie said. 

They nodded in agreement and said nice and polite goodbyes before he left to return to his room. After asking for directions a couple times from staff,and grabbing a map brochure from the bottom deck, he eventually found their room again. He made sure to knock softly before entering, and felt another tug at his heart when he opened the door to see Eddie curled up on their shared bed. He silently closed the door behind him, and then approached the bed to sit next to him. As quiet as he was trying to be, Eddie’s eyes still flickered open when Richie settled his weight on the other side. He looked up at him, and Richie wanted to just melt at the sight of him so sleepy and soft in front of him.

“Hey sleepy head,” he whispered. Eddie blinked slowly and then sighed as he returned to his curled up position.

“I’m trying to sleep away the fact that my mother is a terrible person,” Eddie murmured. Richie rolled his eyes and then gently ran his fingers through Eddie’s hair.

“C’mon. It’s nice and sunny outside. That and I think the bar is finally open,” Richie said.

“Didn’t you go to rehab?” Eddie asked bluntly.

“Yeah, but that was for cocaine,” Richie answered. Eddie sighed and sat up again.

“Fine. I could use some wine anyways,” he decided. Richie smiled and spontaneously leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

“Let’s go then, fire marshal Eds!” Richie said getting up on his feet. Eddie blushed.

“Wh-what? Where did that come from?” He asked.

“Mary told me that you wanted to be a fireman when you were younger,” Richie told him. Eddie shook his head.

“She always blabs about me the most…”

They made their way to the lounge on the top deck, and settled at the bar. Eddie ordered a glass of wine as he said he would, and Richie ordered one of the advertised cocktails. His choice in drink made Eddie raise a brow, and when Richie met his eyes he couldn’t help but smile at the judgmental look he was receiving. The glass of wine was placed in front of him quickly, and he looked away to take a sip. Richie watched the bartender make his cocktail, and gave her a little round of applause after she poured it out on ice and frozen pineapple chunks for him. She handed him the glass, and he took a sip.

“Oh that’s good,” he hummed and plucked the toothpick laced with cherries and mint.

“That’s a cavity waiting to happen, Richie,” Eddie said.

“No, the tequila makes it sterile,” Richie argued. Eddie blinked.

“What…do you know the definition of sterile?” He asked. Richie nodded.

“It means it’s clean and shit, and alcohol is used to clean shit.”

“Yeah, _rubbing_ alcohol. Also, not the definition. Fucking _pee_ is sterile, Richie. It just means free of bacteria and microorganisms,” Eddie said.

“You’re so smart, babe. What would I do without you?” Richie sighed dreamily as he leaned his chin on his palm to look at Eddie. He rolled his eyes and flicked him off before taking another sip.

“I’m going to need more wine if I have to deal with you for the next three days,” he grumbled.

“We’re already halfway through the first day! You’re doing great, baby,” Richie encouraged with a grin. Eddie shook his head and then looked away. “I think you’ll like this though. I know you despise overly sweet things, but this is pretty good if you pinch your nose—“

Richie’s attention was literally pulled towards Eddie, and he was surprised to feel the other man’s lips against his. He could feel the bitter and sweet tang from his wed wine, and decided not to question why they were kissing as he kissed him back. Eddie’s hands were cupping Richie’s cheeks, so he merely reach up and gently held his chin. He seemed a little shy with his lips for some reason, so Richie encouraged him by kissing him again and keeping him close as their mouths shifted angles. His brain was quickly fogging over from how nice it felt to kiss Eddie, and the hand he had on his chin slowly moved to cup the rest of his jaw. Just when he was about to try and kiss him more, the sound of someone clearing their throat tore Richie out of his fantasy and he pulled away to see Eddie’s mother glaring at them.

“Oh, hi Sonia. I didn’t see you there,” Richie said with a smile. Eddie took a moment to blink and find his tongue after Richie was so close to finding it first.

“Um…hi, mom.”

“Are you so indecent to start making out in front of everyone like that? You should be mindful of what other people think and how upsetting that would be to see,” Sonia scolded. Eddie frowned and visibly rolled his eyes before turning back to his wine. Richie merely laughed.

“Making out? Sorry if it looked like that, but we were just sharing a little kiss. People do that in public all the time,” he assured her. Sonia was beet red seeing Eddie disregard her so easily, but was distracted by what Richie said.

“It’s not about the kiss, it’s about the fact that it’s a sin. You shouldn’t subject other people to your disgraceful lifestyle,” she spewed. Richie pulled his lips into a thin impatient smile.

“Y’know what, Sonia? You seem like you’re a really nice person. How do you do it? You’re just _radiating_ positivity. For a true Christian, I really shouldn’t have expected anything less, huh?” He sassed. Eddie covered his mouth to try and stop his laugh, but he accidentally let it slip and tried to cover it with a cough.

“You hold your tongue. You have no right to speak on this. The Bible is not that simple,” she replied defensively.

“Sonia? Are you bothering Eddie again?” Mary asked as she approached them.

“Not at all! We were having a lovely conversation about our faith,” Richie replied cheerfully. Eddie turned to see his aunt and smiled at her.

“Hey, how was the take off?” Eddie asked her.

“It was lovely! I had a wonderful time with Sophie and Richie. You’ve got to bring him over for the holidays. He would love the scrap book your grandmother made,” she said stepping past Sonia to be closer to her nephew. Eddie nearly chocked on his wine when he heard that.

“Absolutely not!” Sonia protested. Mary waved her off and instead focused on Eddie as he cleared his throat.

“Oh, geez. The holidays? That won’t work. Um…Richie is Jewish,” Eddie announced. Richie blinked at that.

“You are?” Mary asked with wide eyes.

“Uh…yes! Recently converted. My friend got me into it, and I felt like it suited my beliefs better,” he played along. In reality he couldn’t give a single shit about religion.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to make some adjustments! We can do a Christmas-Hanukkah fusion,” she suggested. Richie laughed, but shook his head.

“Oh, it’s no big deal. Hanukkah is actually not a major holiday like Christmas. I think I can handle having a nice dinner and watching the gift exchange,” Richie assured her.

“Are you sure? We can have a menorah if you want. Or we can make some of your traditional foods together too,” she offered.

“That’s blasphemous, Mary. We can’t have a Jewish Christmas,” Sonia argued.

“Why not? I think it’ll be fun!” Mary insisted with a smile.

“Uh, we should make plans when we’re closer to December. I don’t wanna take away from Richie’s schedule incase he’s working on a project,” Eddie butted it. Richie nodded in agreement.

“If he’ll stick around that long,” Sonia grumbled and then made her way to the food court. Eddie rolled his eyes and sipped his wine.

“Ignore her the best you can, okay boys? I’m very happy you’re both here,” Mary assured them. Richie smiled back at her and nodded.

“Thank you, Mary. I’m happy to be here too,” he replied.

“They’re serving lunch now, by the way. You should grab something before all the good stuff runs out!” She suggested and then followed Sonia.

“Will do!” Richie called before turning back to his drink. Eddie was inhaling his wine, and Richie gently patted his shoulder to calm him down.

“Fuck…I hate my mom so much,” he gasped as he set the glass down.

“Yeah, she’s kind of a piece of shit,” Richie agreed. He glanced up and saw Sonia glaring at them from the line for food.

“The good thing is that she’s definitely fucking miserable,” Eddie grumbled. Richie nodded and then looked over at him to kiss the side of his head.

“Yeah, but how are you? I don’t want you to torture yourself just to get at your mom,” Richie pointed out. Eddie sighed and shook his head.

“I’m fine. I just wish she would shut the fuck up,” he assured him.

“She’s glaring at us pretty hardcore right now. I bet she’s livid that we’re so close,” Richie hummed as he slipped his fingers through Eddie’s hand. Eddie let him and then glanced over to see what Richie was talking about. Sure enough, Sonia was just as red and pissed off as ever, and it only made Eddie smile as he looked back at Richie.

“That’s good to see. The kissing is worth it then,” he said.

“What? Are you saying I’m not a good kisser?” Richie asked. Eddie giggled a little and shrugged.

“I dunno…” he said coyly.

“I’m a _great_ kisser, thank you very much. I was born with the soul purpose of being a fantastic kisser,” Richie insisted. Eddie merely rolled his eyes and leaned a little closer.

“You’re okay at it,” he teased.

“You keep taking me by surprise! Let me lay one on _you_ and see how you like it.”

“Like you could actually—“

Richie cut him off with another kiss, and he could hear Sonia’s angry muttering from the other side of the room. He merely ignored it, and instead focused on the pressure he was using against Eddie. The other man seemed to relax into it as Richie cupped the side of his face, and he easily accepted another one. With that success, Richie decided to caress his cheek with his thumb as he tilted his head to move closer and kiss him a third time. He was aware that he was starting to get carried away, but Eddie didn’t seem to have any protests. In fact he was gently touching Richie’s chest and curled his fingers into the fabric of his teeshirt as they parted. Richie finished with a proud smile and Eddie was stuck looking down at his lips.

“Good?” Richie asked. Eddie blinked and then cleared his throat.

“Uh…yeah. It was pretty good,” he admitted. Richie chuckled and then spared him a kiss on the cheek.

“C’mon. You’re probably just light headed from all that wine. Let’s get some food in you, okay?”

“Okay…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I’m so glad you guys are liking this so far! I’m really excited to share it all with you <3


	5. “What disgusting things have you done to my son?”

“Who’s Stanley, by the way?” Eddie asked as they settled on the outside deck. Richie merely choked on his pizza and then coughed.

“Shit…who?”

“Stanley. When I got out of the shower last night I heard you on the phone saying goodbye and that you love someone named Stanley. Is he your boyfriend?” Eddie asked. Richie laughed loudly at that and shook his head.

“No. Oh _god_ , no. Even if I loved Stan that way he’d beat me with a bat if I ever told him. No, he’s a childhood best friend. I called him last night to catch up,” Richie assured him. Eddie hummed. “What? Are you jealous?” He teased. Eddie blushed brightly, and looked at Richie with wide eyes. It was Richie’s favorite reaction of his.

“What? No! Why would I be jealous? Why would you think that?” He asked defensively. Richie chuckled.

“C’mon, Eds. I’m not gonna judge. It’s okay if you’re secretly in love with me. I’m a celebrity, it comes with the gig,” Richie continued. Eddie rolled his eyes and focused on his salad.

“You’re fucking stupid. Like I could ever fall in love with an annoying asshole like yourself,” he grumbled. Richie pouted.

“Aw, babe. I’m crushed. I thought we had something special,” he said playfully. Eddie shook his head.

“I hate you,” he deadpanned. Richie laughed.

“I’m teasing! I’m teasing. Besides, Stanley has a wife anyways. It’s just funny to me you asked that because he’s absolutely in love with her,” he explained. Eddie slowed down his chewing and then nodded.

“I guess that’s fair. I didn’t know you had normal friends,” Eddie said.

“Oof. You might wanna rethink the way you said that, Eds. Sounds a little homophobic,” he said. Eddie blinked at him in confusion, but he quickly realized what Richie was saying.

“I meant people who aren’t celebrities! Geez, Richie. You’re a fucking terror,” he scoffed. Richie laughed loudly. “We’ve been over the fact that I am attracted to men, so don’t assume I would mean it that way.”

“Eddie, baby, I’m just pulling your leg. Of course you didn’t mean it that way. I just found it funny.”

“Ugh. I’m actually considering sitting with my mom and my aunts because of you,” he sighed.

“Mary actually isn’t that bad. A little pushy, but she’s nice.”

“She’s only nice because she’s the oldest and had to start keeping the peace once my grandma died. She was still very nice before that, but she didn’t feel the need to scold my mother like she does now,” Eddie explained.

“Ah. Makes sense.”

“Although she does like you a lot, and she usually has a good judge of character,” he added.

“Oh? Usually?”

“Yeah, this is the first time is doesn’t make sense,” Eddie teased. Richie let his jaw drop, and placed his hand over his heart.

“You wound me, my love,” he gasped. Eddie gave into a smile, but resisted laughing as best he could. “You see, I can tell that you’re trying not to laugh, and that’s just defeating the purpose of trying. So you might as well just laugh.”

“I’m not giving you the satisfaction,” Eddie replied stubbornly. Richie tsked and shook his head.

“I have three days with you. I’ll make you laugh eventually,” he promised. Eddie rolled his eyes and took another bite of his food.

“The boat will be at the island tomorrow by the way. We’ll be able to get off for about ten hours before it leaves again,” Eddie told him.

“Perfect. I wanted to sun bathe for ten hours, and the boat makes the wind too chilly,” Richie said.

“Not funny.”

“Aw, c’mon.”

“Anyways, my mother is definitely going to be difficult the entire time, but we’ll have a better opportunity to get more space from her,” he explained.

“Good point. Maybe we can mingle with the natives and go off road.”

“Mm, bad idea. Only a few cities are open for tourists because of the hurricanes. You’d be arrested,” Eddie told him.

“Oh…right.”

“Besides, from the little I know about you, we would get lost because you’re stupid,” he said.

“While that might be true, you don’t have to be so rude about it,” Richie replied. Eddie sighed and then checked over his shoulder. His mother had been burning holes in their heads the entire time, and she was sat at a nearby table with the rest of Eddie’s aunts too.

“She’s so annoying,” Eddie muttered and turned back. Richie frowned and used his clean hand, not covered in pizza grease, to rub and pat Eddie’s shoulder.

“Whatever. If she wants to waste her time being a bitch about this, then that’s her loss. We’re literally on a luxury cruise and all she can focus on is us? That’s fucking pathetic,” Richie said.

“She’s always been pathetic. I just wish she would just get over it.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Richie said and leaned back in his chair. They were quiet for a moment before Eddie cleared his throat and then wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“So…we have to share a bed tonight…” he started. Richie nodded.

“Yes. This is true. I’m assuming you have something to say about it.”

“You assumed correctly. We’re not going to be cuddling and we’re definitely not going to be touching,” Eddie said sternly. Richie put on a fake pout and crossed his arms.

“Well that’s no fun.”

“I’m serious. I can’t sleep if someone is touching me. It was detrimental to all my past partners, and it’s a rule that I can’t help. So…yeah,” he explained. Richie nodded.

“That’s fine, Eds. If you don’t wanna be touched that’s perfectly reasonable. Although we might need to either put up a pillow divider or put me on the floor because I tend to spread out and wrestle with my blankets,” Richie warned.

“Yeah, I noticed that this morning,” Eddie said. Richie chuckled and shrugged.

“My apologizes. Like I said, I can be on the ground,” he offered.

“We’ll see. I might take you up on that if you’re too difficult,” he said. Richie smiled and nodded.

“Sounds good!”

“Hey! Mary wanted to start planning for our day tomorrow on the island. Did you guys want to join?” Sophie asked as she approached the table.

“We were just talking about that too actually,” Richie said.

“Great! Come over, and we can get a good idea of what we’re all doing,” Sophie invited.

Eddie seemed to want to resist the invitation, but eventually gave in as Richie got up with her. They squeezed in around the table with the rest of Eddie’s family, and listened to Mary’s plan for the next day. She wanted to start with snorkeling at one of the nearby swimming sites, and then dry off and have lunch at one of the restaurants in town. Then there was a dinner event the cruise line was putting on for everyone, and she wanted to go to that too. Eddie wasn’t too thrilled about the snorkeling, but Richie managed to talk him into at least swimming in the beach while the girls went underwater. Other then that no one had any protests, so they all agreed on her plan.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was relatively calm. Natasha dragged Sonia to one of the games the cruise was putting on in the lower decks, and the rest of them stayed around the lounge and enjoyed the lack of her presence. Eventually they returned to the bar for another drink, and Richie charmed the women into trying the cocktail he had earlier. Eddie shook his head in disapproval as he sipped his wine, and Richie merely smiled and kissed his cheek in response. They had dinner, and then they went off to their rooms. Richie watched as Sonia walked into the room directly next to theirs, and filed that information away for later. Eddie on the other hand was already pulling off the blankets and putting up a divider of extra pillows he found in the room. Thankfully the bed was roomy enough that the wall of pillows didn’t take away too much from their sleeping space.

“I’m going to shower while you do that, okay?” Richie said behind him. Eddie nodded without a word and pulled out the extra blankets from under the bed.

The bathroom attached to their room was devastatingly small. It was one of those showers only big enough for one person, and barely had enough space for his soaps. Thankfully the water heated up fast, and he was relatively quick at showering. Still, while the bedroom was at least a decent size he could see what they sacrificed for a semi open space. He dried off, got dressed in his pajamas, and then stepped out to see the bed already made.

“Looks good, Eds,” Richie said and plopped his dirty clothes into his duffle bag.

“Thanks. Don’t call me Eds,” he murmured as he adjusted the blanket on his side one last time. Richie chuckled and crawled onto his side.

“How was the first day? Did you manage to enjoy yourself at least a little bit?” Richie asked. Eddie sighed and then walked to the dresser they shared to get into his own pajamas.

“It was okay. I’m glad I hired you for sure. I’ve never brought anyone to a family event before, and it’s honestly a wonder what it’s doing for my sanity,” Eddie said truthfully.

“I thought you said I was a danger to your sanity,” Richie said with a smug grin. Eddie flipped him off and then pulled off his shirt. Richie didn’t like to leer, but he wasn’t about to look away yet either.

“My mother is worse, so it cancels out,” he replied and pulled on his night shirt. He then grabbed his pants and clean underwear, and walked to the bathroom to change those.

“It’s really tight in there, by the way,” Richie warned before he disappeared behind the door.

“Jesus Christ…” Eddie said. Richie laughed and then waited for him to come back out.

“Are you going to call Stanley again tonight?” He asked when he returned. Richie shrugged, and Eddie crawled into bed next to him.

“Probably not. Service isn’t great, and he told me not to update him. He told me not to take this job,” Richie said.

“Honestly, you should’ve listened to him. I can’t imagine this being pleasant for you. You’ve had to fight my my mother off for me like twice already,” Eddie said sounding defeated. Richie shrugged.

“It’s all good. I like doing it. She gets all mad over nothing, so it’s super easy to push her buttons. I like pushing buttons,” Richie said. Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I can tell,” he muttered.

“But seriously. Don’t worry about me. I’m on a cruise to the Bahamas for _free_ , and I get to be apart of family drama I have no business being in. This is my ideal vacation, Eds,” Richie assured him.

“I highly doubt you couldn’t afford this on your own. You could probably afford a nicer cruise line all together,” Eddie pointed out.

“Yeah, but I’m assuming whoever bought the ticket had to do a lot of saving and thinking about it. It might cost me nothing, but it cost your family a lot. I don’t take that lightly, Eds,” Richie replied. Eddie blinked at him in surprise and then turned to lay on his back.

“Thank you…you’re right. They did spend a lot of time saving and thinking about this trip. They wanted to surprise me for my birthday this year. It’s not until November, but they would all be free this month. It was my mother who pressured everyone into buying an extra ticket and try to guilt me into bringing a girl with me,” he explained.

“That’s so fucking stupid. She couldn’t just enjoy your company?”

“She thinks I’m going to end up alone. Which, I’m not that upset about, but she thinks is the end of the world. I…I’ve had relationships in the past, but…I never really fit with anyone in a way that made me happy,” he went on. Richie nodded.

“Yeah…people are hard, y’know? It’s hard to tell if spending the rest of your life with someone is a good idea,” Richie agreed.

“Exactly. Anyways…thank you. I’m glad you’re here actually. As annoying as you are, you’re a good distraction from my mother,” he said. 

“It’s no biggie, Eddie,” Richie said and then got up to turn the lights off. Eddie kept his lamp on until Richie returned to his spot, and then turned it off as well.

“Goodnight, Richie,” he murmured quietly. Richie smiled.

“Goodnight, Eds.”

When Richie woke up the next morning it was warmer then he remembered. His first instinct was to snuggle towards the warmth, but he quickly froze as he realized the heat source was another human. He remembered Eddie putting up the pillows, and he honestly thought that would fight off his snuggling urges. His body was still waking up, but he could vaguely feel a head against his chest, and an arm loosely draped over his waist. His own arms had the other man completely enveloped, and his face was buried in the soft warm hair. He made a weak attempt to pull away, but the arm on his body actually tightened and kept them close. He slowly blinked his eyes open and saw the empty space in front of him where Eddie used to be. The pillows were all over the place, and Richie was surprised to still be on his own side of the bed. He was slightly closer to the middle, but not as much as he thought he would’ve been if he was responsible for the mess. Still, Eddie only seemed to cling to him, so he did his best not to move. Then there was a knock.

“Shit,” Richie sighed. 

He tried his best to wiggle out of Eddie’s grasp without waking him up, but he only seemed to dig his fingers tighter into his shirt. There was another knock, so Richie decided to sacrifice the garment and successfully escaped leaving his shirt on the bed. He quickly tip toed to the door and opened it only to see the last person he wanted to see. Sonia glared at his bare chest, and then at the mess on the bed, and then at Richie’s face.

“What disgusting things have you done to my son?” She demanded to know. Richie’s brows shot up and he looked over. Okay, yeah the bed looked like they were doing less than pure activities.

“Oh, nothing! That was just…Eddie wanted to see how many pillows there were and I wanted to keep them on the bed is all. No, we passed out pretty quickly actually,” he assured her. She kept her scowl and shook her head.

“Whatever. I would like to speak to my son alone before the others wake up,” she requested. Richie pursed his lips and then leaned on the doorframe to block her from the view.

“He’s sleeping,” Richie said. His usual warmth missing from his tone since he didn’t have to worry about keeping Eddie calm. Her glare hardened even more.

“Excuse you? Wake him up then.”

“I’d rather not. He’s comfortable where he is, and I’d rather not wake him up just for you to yell at him and belittle him,” Richie decided.

“I wouldn’t have to yell at him if he just did as I asked,” she said stubbornly.

“And he doesn’t need to do everything you tell him. He’s an adult. You need to treat him like that,” Richie said. Sonia’s face got red, and he smirked. “Go back to sleep, Sonia. I’ll see you when we get off the boat,” he finished before closing the door without another word. 

He could hear a frustrated groan before she eventually walked off. With her gone and out of the way, Richie sighed with relief and turned to crawl back into bed. As he settled under the sheets, Eddie’s arms found him again. He felt another tug at his heart as the other man deliberately pushed himself into Richie’s space and held him tightly. It was adorable on its own, but Eddie was also especially adorable too. He settled his arms around him like before, and let sleep pull him away once again. It probably wasn’t long before he was woken up again, but this time it was from shuffling under the sheets and a voice.

“Richie? Hmm…what…” he trailed off and slid his hands against the bare skin of Richie’s back. “How did this happen?” He asked.

“Mm…dunno,” Richie sighed and nuzzled against his hair.

“Did you do this?” Eddie asked sleepily. Richie shook his head.

“No, uh…woke up like this. Your mother came earlier to try and talk to you, but I told her no. I couldn’t get to the door right away because you were holding on so tight,” Richie told him. Eddie was quiet for a moment.

“I guess this isn’t too bad…” he murmured. Richie chuckled and used the small portion of his brain that was operating to press a kiss to the top of Eddie’s head.

“Cute…”

“What did my mother say?” Eddie asked. He seemed to relax a little after Richie explained what was happening, and Richie loved the way he subtly pressed himself into Richie’s embrace.

“I dunno. I didn’t give her a chance to say much. Told her to leave you alone,” Richie said.

“Ugh. I hate her so much,” Eddie murmured. Richie nodded in agreement and then brought his hand up to run his fingers through Eddie’s hair. “I dunno why this feels okay. Usually I hate cuddling.”

“You just haven’t cuddled with _me_ until now,” Richie said. He expected some kind of retaliation, but Eddie only seemed to hum and melt under Richie’s gentle touches.

“Maybe…” he said and tucked his head under Richie’s chin. Richie chuckled and caressed his cheek as well.

“Cute cute cute…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3


	6. “A bit cheesy, don’t you think?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: brief mentions of rape, and Sonia’s homophobia.

Once Eddie was more awake and lucid he was much more embarrassed by their sleeping position. Richie tried to apologize, but Eddie merely shook his head and said it was his fault anyways. He said he must’ve been cuddling one of the pillows, and got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. When he returned he must’ve mistaken Richie for the pillow. They decided to leave it at that and then get ready for breakfast. Eddie took his shower while Richie got dressed, and when he walked out he was dressed as well. They left their room to get breakfast in the top deck lounge, and ate inside since it was still a little chilly from the morning breeze. Eventually Mary and the others slowly started to join them, and Richie immediately felt Sonia’s glare again. Her assumptions of their nightly activities made him feel a little awkward, but he greeted her with a smile anyways.

“So, we signed up for the snorkeling adventure this morning, and while I was looking at the map I saw this cute little beach that you and Eddie can visit,” Mary said, thankfully taking Richie’s attention away from Sonia. He looked at the little map she was holding and chuckled at the beach she was pointing to.

“‘Love Beach’. Isn’t that cute, Eds?” He said nudging Eddie’s elbow.

“Huh?” He said looking over Richie’s arm. He then wrinkled his nose. “A bit cheesy, don’t you think?” He replied.

“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud,” Natasha said. “I’d kill to spend such a nice morning on the beach with a lover.” Eddie blushed at that and focused on his oatmeal.

“Theres plenty of beaches to visit! I just thought that was very cute,” Mary assured him.

“C’mon, Eds. It’ll be fun,” Richie encouraged.

“I never said no. I just said it was cheesy,” Eddie replied.

“The snorkeling adventure is going to take a couple hours, so why don’t we meet at this restaurant at twelve thirty?” Mary said pointing to the map again. Richie nodded and pulled out his phone to take a picture of it.

“Sounds good to me. Is that good for you, Eds?” He asked. Eddie nodded and scooped up some fruit with his oats.

“Yeah. That’ll be great,” he agreed. Richie smiled and then looked over to see Sonia glaring at her son instead of him. He hoped he didn’t say anything earlier that might’ve made her target Eddie instead…

After they finished their breakfast and changed into swimwear, they went their separate ways for the morning. Eddie said it would be better for them to walk to the beach, so Richie begrudgingly agreed since he didn’t want to call down a taxi or rent a bike. Thankfully it was a short walk, and Richie was happy to feel Eddie’s fingers still between his own despite splitting off from his family so long ago. He must’ve forgotten about it because once it was brought to his attention he let go and blushed. Richie laid out a towel for them and stood with his hands on his hips as Eddie sat down. His skin was still a little greasy from the sun block Eddie insisted that they used, but ignored it in favor of taking a deep breath. He smiled and looked down only to be put off by Eddie’s frown. He sat down next to him.

“Hey. Everything okay?” He asked. Eddie was quiet for a moment before sighing and pulling his knees up to his chin.

“…my mom caught me to talk before we left and…I just feel really fucking stupid,” he said. Richie frowned as well and rubbed his back.

“What did she say?”

“She said that she wanted to talk earlier this morning, and that you opened the door shirtless and the bed looked a mess…and then went on about how being gay wasn’t okay and that premarital sex on top of that was just unforgivable,” he told him. Richie shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Eds. I told her we didn’t do anything, but I don’t think she believes anything I say,” he replied. Eddie shook his head too.

“It doesn’t matter, y’know? Even if we _did_ do something like that, it’s none of her business! She keeps…finding ways to dig her nails in my life and I’m so sick of it.”

“Did she…say anything else?” Richie asked.

“She said something about me still being her child even though I’m an adult? Which I have no idea where that came from, but it still irritates the fuck out of me.”

“Right…uh, sorry. That might’ve been my fault. She was demanding to talk to you and I said that you were asleep and I wouldn’t wake you up for that. She tried to go off about how she yells at you because you don’t do what she tells you to, and I told her that you don’t have to because you’re an adult. So…yeah,” Richie confessed. Eddie was quiet for a moment, and for a moment Richie was worried he was mad. Instead of yelling, or maybe even a slap, Eddie leaned his head against Richie’s shoulder.

“Thank you…for telling her that. It’s hard to stand up to her all the time, so I appreciate you doing that,” he murmured. Richie brought his hand on Eddie’s back over his shoulders and kissed the top of his head.

“Of course. She’s a bitch anyways. Even if she was somehow in the right I still wouldn’t put up with her bullshit,” he said. Eddie smiled and let his eyes close as the sun started to warm up some more.

“I used to think she was right…before I moved out she made me think I was doing everything wrong. I’m glad I don’t think that way anymore. It was so draining,” Eddie disclosed.

“I’m sorry it was like that, Eds,” Richie cooed. Eddie shook his head.

“It taught me a lot. It’s not important anymore really,” he said opening his eyes again and looking out at the water.

“Right…”

“This is nice though. I hope she isn’t giving any of my aunts a hard time, but it’s nice to be away from her,” Eddie hummed. Richie nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. Being away from her, and…y’know. Just us…alone. It’s really nice,” Richie agreed. Eddie smiled again and moved a little closer to be more snug against his side.

“I don’t know why, but for some reason I can tolerate cuddling with you,” Eddie teased. Richie chuckled and patted his gut through his shirt.

“Built in insulation. Highest technology on the market. I’m warm _and_ I’m soft,” he said. Eddie rolled his eyes and then looked up to see Richie already looking at him.

“I guess you just make me feel…safe. I don’t know why you of all people do, but…you do.”

“Maybe it has something to do with me beating back your mom whenever she’s being a bitch,” Richie offered. Eddie twisted his mouth in a feeble attempt not to laugh, and he ended up covering it and shaking his head.

“Shut the fuck up. Oh my god,” he said resting his forehead on his shoulder. Richie laughed loudly.

“You’re struggling! You’re actually struggling not to laugh! That’s hilarious,” Richie cackled. 

Eddie playfully slapped his chest and Richie took his fingers before they could slip away. He looked up, and Richie didn’t really realize just how close they were until he was mere inches away from Eddie’s lips. Clearly he wasn’t the only one affected because Eddie’s cheeks were instantly overtaken with red. He started to pull away, but then must’ve changed his mind and stayed. Richie blinked down at him and then gently pushed some of his hair out of his face. His skin was soft against Richie’s fingertips, and the way Eddie was looking at him was another pull on his heart. He moved his hand to cup his cheek, and noticed Eddie’s eyes on his lips as well. He was about to say something, but didn’t know what. His mouth was open, but nothing came out as Eddie dared to lean closer. 

It was slow, but eventually their lips met and Richie felt like he was going to have a heart attack. Of course he reciprocated, and he gladly accepted anything Eddie wanted to give him. It was short, but also long. A drawn out peck that sent chills down Richie’s spine and electricity through his fingers. Such a soft and gentle gesture that nearly shocked him to his core from how good it felt. Eddie pulled back still red in the face, and then hid against Richie’s chest.

“Sorry. That was…unnecessary,” he said. Richie took a moment to recover and then chuckled a little. He shook his head and wrapped his arm around Eddie’s shoulders again.

“No worries! Practice makes perfect, huh?” Richie assured him. Eddie hesitated and then nodded.

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“Did you want to actually go in the water, or should we just sit here for another hour?” Richie asked. Eddie sighed and pulled back to look at the water.

“…I guess it wouldn’t hurt to swim a little bit. It is getting pretty warm,” he said. Richie nodded and patted his shoulder.

“That’s the spirit!”

Getting in the water inevitably ended with a splash fight that Richie instigated. He didn’t expect to get annihilated once Eddie started to actually fight back, but he quickly surrendered after getting a mouthful of salt water. The best part about it was that Eddie was laughing. Loud and unapologetic giggles met Richie’s ears, and it was the sweetest thing imaginable. All he could do was stop and listen to it, but he wanted more than anything to just pull him close and kiss him hard on the mouth. Never in his life had Richie been so attracted to one person, and no matter what Eddie did it made Richie’s heart flutter. There was a little voice in the back of his head reminding him that he wasn’t supposed to actually fall in love with Eddie, but he was very much in favor of ignoring that voice until everything was falling apart. Because it all would definitely fall apart at this rate, and tragically too.

Once it got close to noon they walked back to the boat to get dressed. The walk dried them off a little bit, but Eddie was very insistent on at least rinsing off before heading to the restaurant. Richie was resistant, but Eddie pushed him into the bathroom anyway. His stubbornness was an inexplicable turn on for Richie. Not exactly in a sexual way, but he could easily see it that way if he wanted to. No, he found Eddie’s stubbornness to be incredibly attractive and entertaining, and challenging. It was almost like a game of ping pong between them. He could see that, while Eddie was frustrated with Richie’s arguing, he was also feeding into it himself. He clearly liked it or else he would just shut Richie up and do as he pleased. Instead he fueled it, and Richie loved that more than anything.

They were once again walking instead of calling a taxi, and once they showed up Eddie’s family had already grabbed a table. It wasn’t super busy, and it was nice and calm. They sat next to each other on the end of the booth, and Richie eyed Sonia from directly across the table. She gave him a dirty look regardless of anything kindness he showed her, so he smiled smiled back and then turned his attention to Mary. She was telling Eddie all about the snorkeling, and Eddie actually seemed mildly interested in her descriptions of the coral and the fish. Richie picked up his menu, and then pointed out something to Eddie that they could share. He wrinkled his nose like he does when he’s displeased, and Richie smiled seeing it.

“A burger? Really? You can get a burger anywhere in New York. Get something native,” Eddie nagged.

“Well how about this? It says it’s some kind of fish?” Richie asked pointing directly below it. Eddie looked closer to see the picture.

“That looks good. Is it big enough to share?”

“I dunno. How hungry are you?”

“We had a pretty decent breakfast…we can ask the waiter…uh…” Eddie trailed off as he noticed a woman approaching their table. Richie looked over as well, and was greeted with a nervous smile.

“Hello,” he greeted before she could even open her mouth.

“Hi! Sorry. I don’t mean to be rude. Um…are you…Richie Tozier?” She asked. Richie nodded and smiled back at her.

“Yeah, that’s me. What’s up?” He replied. She gave an anxious giggle and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt or anything. It’s just…my name is Silvia. My son just came out to me last week because of you, and I just wanted to say thank you. I finally have a real relationship with him, and I can’t help but attribute a part of that to you and your story,” she explained. Richie blinked in surprise, and then smiled wider.

“Wow. That’s so wonderful to hear. Thank you for letting me know. Do you think he’d like an autograph?” He offered. Her eyes widened in excitement and she nodded.

“Oh—yes! He’d love that. Thank you so much,” she confirmed. Richie nodded and grabbed one of the napkins from the table.

“Do you have a pen? Or a sharpie maybe?” He asked. She nodded and reached into her purse to produce a felt tip pen. Richie accepted it, and then proceeded to sign the napkin as well as leave a little note.

“What’s his name?” He asked.

“His name is Michael. He just turned twenty one,” she told him.

“His life is just starting! That’s great,” he said and finished off the note. He then handed her the pen and the napkin, and patted her hand. “You take care, okay? Let Michael know I’m rooting for him.”

“Of course. Thank you so much,” she nodded and then turned to walk out of the restaurant with her take out box. Richie watched her with a smile, and then turned back to see Eddie and his family looking at him.

“That was very sweet. Does that happen often?” Mary asked. Richie shrugged.

“Eh. Depends on where I am. New York and LA have a lot of celebrities already so people aren’t really phased, but if I go somewhere small I’ll get a couple people coming up to say hi,” Richie replied.

“Does everyone tell you about how you changed their life by liking men?” Sonia asked bitterly. Natasha tsked at her and shook her head. Richie merely laughed as he felt Eddie’s hand affectionately wrap around his arm.

“Actually, not really. I only came out recently though, so who knows? Maybe it’s the first of many,” he replied.

“I don’t see why it’s so important to come out. It’s honestly not that important for people to know,” Sonia continued.

“Right. Which is why I never came out to you, mother,” Eddie said coldly. Her face was red with anger once again, but Mary’s giggling made it less intimidating. Before she could start yelling, Richie started speaking.

“Actually, what just happened was the reason I came out at all. I really was content keeping it to myself and all my friends, but then I remembered watching George Michael coming out when I was younger, and how important that was for me and my own self discovery. I…realized I wanted to be that for other people,” Richie told her truthfully. Eddie rubbed his skin under the sleeve of his shirt, and Richie couldn’t help be absorb every drop of affection that man gave him.

“George Michael? Didn’t he get arrested for trying to rape an undercover cop?” Sonia questioned.

“It wasn’t rape, Sonia. He was just offering to have sex with him,” Natasha corrected her.

“Still. Vile thing to do.”

“Not really. Especially not in the nineties. Hook up culture was very different compared to now. What I really liked about him coming out was when he said he didn’t feel any shame around being gay. I really needed to hear that at the time, and it helped me come to terms with myself,” Richie explained.

“Were you and Eddie dating yet when you came out?” Sophie asked. Richie and Eddie looked at each other and then Richie gave a non committal hand gesture.

“Ehh…we were talking and flirting, but we didn’t really have plans to become serious until after I did,” he said.

“I didn’t like him very much at first,” Eddie admitted.

“What? You fell in love with me the minute you saw me,” Richie teased. Eddie rolled his eyes, and shook his head.

“As if you didn’t spend forever trying to wear me down for just a coffee date,” Eddie said.

“As if you weren’t trying your hardest to resist the entire time until you said yes,” Richie replied.

“Oh, you two are so cute together,” Sophie sighed. Eddie blushed as he realized his aunts and his mother were definitely still listening to them, and Richie laughed.

“Isn’t he the cutest? I’ll never understand how someone can be so adorable, yet look so capable of murder,” Richie said wrapping his arm around Eddie’s shoulder.

“The only murder I’m planning is your own,” Eddie grumbled. Richie laughed again and then kissed his cheek.

“Mary, are you getting the mac and cheese?” Natasha asked.

“I think I am. Did you want to share?”

“No, but I did want to try a bite and maybe order some to go for later if I like it.”

“That’s fair. I’ll let you have a couple bites.”

Richie pressed his forehead against Eddie’s as his aunts talked amongst themselves. The other man was still blushing, and Richie thought it was the cutest thing ever. He glanced briefly at Sonia, and looked back when he met her terrible glare that she never seemed to drop. He decided to ignore it, and instead tilted Eddie’s chin up to press a sweet little kiss to his lips. Eddie easily sank into it, and reached up to cup Richie’s cheek before they parted. He blinked up a Richie, and Richie merely smiled before kissing his forehead and running his fingers up his nape and through his hair. Sonia was definitely glaring at them the whole time, but he couldn’t seem to care when Eddie looked at him like that. He didn’t care about anything in the world in that moment except for Eddie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m currently writing the last chapter of this story, and I think you guys are going to like how it all wraps up! Thank you all for the love and the support. If you have any questions I usually respond to comments, but you can also hmu on insta for a more direct response @gay_an_feral <3


	7. “Pirates are pretty kinky, huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: drug mentions, suicide mentions (Richie talks about his past w drugs), Sonia’s homophobia ://

“The girls and I are going to the straw market until the dinner tonight. You guys are welcome to join, but you might find something you enjoy more then following us old ladies around looking at purses and jewelry,” Mary told Eddie and Richie as they stood outside the restaurant.

“We might join you later, but Richie seemed pretty excited about that one museum you told him about,” Eddie replied.

“Eds, it’s a _pirate_ museum. We get to learn about real pirates that used to live here,” Richie said. Eddie rolled his eyes and smiled.

“We’ll for sure see you at dinner. What time are we meeting up?” He asked.

“Five o’clock. Then we get back on the ship before eight,” she said. Eddie nodded.

“Sounds good. See you at five.”

They walked to the museum hand in hand again. This time Eddie didn’t bother letting go, and Richie couldn’t help but feel giddy about it. The museum wasn’t hard to miss since it was painted such an obvious shade of red, and Richie was getting excited all over again. They paid the admission tickets, and Richie couldn’t help but pull Eddie along as they walked inside. It was an interactive museum of the gold era of pirates that lived in the Bahamas. The exhibits had wax sculptures of different pirates, and there were audio recordings of them whispering along the way. It was kind of creepy, but Richie loved every second of it.

“This reminds me of that Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland,” Eddie said as they looked at an exhibit of pirates on the shore.

“The ones in Disneyland move too though. These ones just have the sound effects,” Richie pointed out. Eddie rolled his eyes and read the little plaque before they moved on. 

They got to a room with glass boxes filled with actual artifacts from the pirates that lived here centuries ago. There was a wooden board mounted on the wall with ropes attached and a framed picture of the different knots above it. Of course Richie immediately played with them and then looked over at Eddie with a smug smirk.

“They must’ve had some good rope skills. Pirates are pretty kinky, huh?” He joked. Eddie wasn’t even struggling not to laugh. He merely shook his head and walked away.

Before they left, Richie couldn’t resist buying a pirate hat from the gift shop. Eddie tried to discourage him by telling him he looked stupid, but Richie was already handing the cashier his money. That shaved a good hour of their time between how interactive it was and how long Richie spent joking and playing with it. By the time they got out they still had a little time to kill before they had to go to dinner, so they walked along one of the beaches again. Eddie didn’t let Richie hold his hand since he was wearing a stupid hat, but that didn’t stop him from laughing and smiling.

“God, it’s so beautiful here,” Richie said. Eddie nodded and looked out at the bright blue water.

“It really is…”

“I really should take more vacations. Like I have the money for it, but I’m always doing something,” Richie said.

“Why don’t you take a break? I don’t think I’ve seen a lull in your career since you got out of rehab,” Eddie noticed. He nodded.

“And that’s why. Working keeps the drugs away,” Richie explained. Eddie paused.

“Oh…is it that bad?” He asked. Richie stopped too, and then looked down.

“Uh…yeah. It was that bad,” he confirmed. Eddie was quiet and then reached for Richie’s hand again.

“But you’re better now?” He asked. Richie looked at him and nodded.

“Ten times better. I feel like a million bucks,” he assured him. Eddie smiled a little.

“That’s good. Was it…was it easy for you?”

“God no,” Richie chuckled.

“Geez.”

“Sorry, it’s just…I did a lot of coke back in the day. I’ve got ADD or ADHD or whatever they call it now, but uh…stimulants are a little different for me because of it,” he said vaguely.

“How so?”

“Well, imagine what you think a person who just snorted cocaine looks like, and then throw that out because I looked nothing like that. Snorting coke was like an easy ticket to just pump the breaks. I’d do a line and just fucking sit and talk for hours. It felt like I pushed the pause button on life, and that slowed down version of reality is what got me,” Richie explained. Eddie frowned as he listened.

“Really? That’s…crazy. Coke made you calm?” He questioned. Richie nodded.

“It made me feel great, honestly. I could sit down for once and just chill. It’s just so easy to over do it because literally all I could think about was doing more.”

“How’d you get out of it?” Eddie asked stepping closer. Richie hesitated.

“…I wanted to die. Everything was so bad that it would’ve been easier for me to die then to fix it. My entire life was falling apart, and I still couldn’t stop thinking about doing coke. I just wanted it to stop,” he sighed. Eddie was quiet and then wrapped his arms around Richie. He accepted the hug, and appreciated Eddie’s face tucked against his neck.

“I’m glad you didn’t die,” he murmured. Richie chuckled.

“Yeah, I’m glad too. You can actually thank Stanley for that. He’s the one who said I was stupid for thinking death was the answer to my sobriety,” he said.

“Is Stanley your only friend or something?” Eddie teased. 

“No. He’s just the only real one I have…and I guess Bill is a good one too, but he can be annoying sometimes,” Richie said. Eddie giggled, and Richie pulled back with a wide smile. His smile made Eddie cover his mouth and blush before turning to leave. “Eds, wait! My love! I made you laugh!”

“Shut up!”

After their walk on the beach, they decided to head to the venue that the cruise line rented. It was outdoors and absolutely stunning. The sun wasn’t quite setting yet, but the sky was starting to turn colors. Fairy lights were strung across the area, and there were candles lit at every table. Mary waved at them to get their attention, and they followed to sit at the table they found. Natasha was bickering with Sonia about something they saw online, and Richie could see that Eddie was relieved that she wasn’t paying attention to them for once. The appetizers were already on the table, and Richie didn’t hesitate to reach out and fill their plates. Eddie kissed his cheek as he placed a roll on his plate, and Richie smiled at him before reciprocating with a kiss on the forehead.

“This place is pretty romantic, isn’t it?” Mary said as she noticed the interaction. Eddie blushed deeply, and Richie chuckled as he nodded.

“Uh, yeah. It’s pretty nice here,” he agreed.

“Eddie, I’ve never seen you so happy with a partner before. I wanted to say thank you for sharing this with us. I’m so happy for you,” she said sweetly. Eddie’s entire face was red now, and he covered it out of embarrassment.

“God, don’t say that in front of him. It’s just going to go to his head,” he sighed. Richie laughed and kissed the top of his head since his face was covered.

“You’re so cute, Eds. Like I couldn’t tell just from looking at you,” Richie teased. Eddie shook his head, but Richie merely pulled him against his chest.

“Do you guys have any plans for marriage?” Sophie asked. The table went a little quiet, and she received strange looks from Eddie, Richie, and definitely Sonia.

“That’s absurd,” Sonia spoke first.

“Oh, I was just asking because it’s legal now! Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset anyone,” Sophie said quickly.

“No, it’s fine. Uh…why is it so absurd, Sonia?” Richie asked. He kept a protective arm around Eddie, and he could feel the anxiety from the other man.

“Well…just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s suddenly not a sin. Even Eddie knows that. Plus, you’re a celebrity. All celebrities end up in divorce,” she said. Richie was quiet for a moment, and then laughed in disbelief.

“I’m sorry, what?” He asked. She rolled her eyes at him.

“Oh please. Like you don’t see the obvious trend in Hollywood people getting divorced for fun,” Sonia said flippantly.

“That’s very funny, Sonia. You’re making an assumption again. You’re truly all seeing and revolutionary,” he said with a thin and impatient smile. She was really starting to get on his nerves.

“Excuse you, but I don’t like what you’re implying. I doubt you care to get my blessing before you, god forbid, _attempt_ to marry my son, but even if you did I’d never give it,” she said.

“Can we just stop talking about marriage? Please?” Eddie sighed. Richie was quiet as requested, but Sonia merely continued talking.

“I’m only trying to look out for you, Eddie,” she insisted.

“Except you’re _not_. You’re torturing me instead. I’m perfectly happy not being married,” he snapped. Richie rubbed his back in encouragement, and Mary nodded in agreement.

“That’s because you haven’t been in love yet,” Sonia argued. Eddie’s aunts were all silent, and it occurred to Richie that they assumed that he and Eddie were actually deeply in love. While Richie was definitely on the way, he was almost certain Eddie was too much of an emotional mess to even consider that. Plus, he needed to remind himself again that they weren’t actually together.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eddie asked. She blinked.

“What? You haven’t.”

“I’m _dating_ Richie. I’m _in love_ with Richie,” he said clearly and adamantly. Richie nearly choked on his own spit hearing that.

“I…I never heard you say it!”

“Because you make me so uncomfortable all the time that I don’t want to deal with you if I do,” Eddie replied.

“That’s absurd. I’m your mother!”

“We can at least agree on that. I _should_ be able to tell you anything, but I can’t. Because you make it a personal mission to fuck it up,” he went on.

“Don’t use that language with me,” she grumbled.

“Then don’t talk to me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you know everything about life! About _my_ life! You act like you know everything I should do, but you scrape for any detail of my personal life because you know I won’t tell you shit. My life is not up for you to decide,” he explained.

“Eddie—“

“No! I’m tired of this! I’m not talking to you anymore for the rest of this trip. I’m done,” Eddie decided and got up. 

Richie scrambled after him as he walked away, and ignored the girls at the table. Thankfully none of them followed, and Richie let Eddie lead them to the boat again. He was quiet the whole way, and Richie managed to catch up and hold his hand the rest of the way there. The boat wasn’t super full since most of the passengers were at the dinner event, so Richie decided to take the lead up to the top deck. Eddie remained silent as Richie sat him down on one of the outside chairs, and then jogged over to the bar to get them a couple drinks. He returned with a glass of red wine and another cocktail before sitting next to him. Eddie gratefully accepted the glass and sipped it once before looking down at it. He was still mute, so Richie cleared his throat.

“Geez…it’s beautiful out,” he murmured. The sun was finally starting to set, and when they looked out at it the water was a beautiful peach and purple swirl. Eddie nodded in agreement.

“Yeah…”

“It’s not even chilly yet too. I think we lucked out. Except, y’know…the homophobia…” he continued. He gave a nervous chuckle to try and break the ice, but Eddie merely looked from the sunset to Richie’s awkward expression.

“I’m really sorry about this, Richie…I honestly imagined this going so much differently,” he said. Richie shrugged.

“What’s family drama without a couple tears and bruises? I figured it wouldn’t always be fun. Especially in this circumstance. Like…your mom is pretty crazy. I’m glad you took over because I was about to rip her a new one.”

“You don’t have to do that for me,” Eddie sighed.

“For you? Oh no. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always go to bat for you, but she was trying to imply that I’m the slimy kinda bastard the likes to get divorced for fun. Holy _shit_ , that made me mad. If I’m gonna marry someone then I’m gonna do it for real, y’know? I don’t fuck around with that,” Richie replied. Eddie nodded.

“I’m sorry she’s been giving you such a hard time. You honestly don’t deserve it. If you want me to like actually pay you for this, I totally understand,” he offered. Richie frowned and then set his drink down on the table. He shook his head and he moved his chair closer, and then gently took Eddie’s hands cupping his glass.

“Please. Don’t worry about me, okay? I am doing just fine. I can handle Sonia being the epitome of a cheesy eighth grade bully. I just…I hope you aren’t suffering too much for the sake of trying to piss her off,” Richie said. Eddie blinked up at him, and Richie spared him a gentle smile.

“I’m okay…” he said.

“I think you should stick to what you said before leaving. Just…don’t talk to her for the rest of the time. Clearly she’s not worth it, and I doubt we’ll be able to say anything that would make her even a little more accepting before we dock in Miami. Let’s just…let’s just enjoy tomorrow without her, okay?” Richie suggested. Eddie hesitated and then nodded.

“Yeah. That sounds like a good idea,” he then chuckled bitterly. “It’s so silly. Anytime I want to get her to cooperate with me I threaten to never talk to her again. It works at the time, but sometimes I feel like that’s the only way I can stop her from harassing me.”

“Maybe. I mean, I only know a fraction of information about your mom, but from what I can tell is that if she’s not going to be loving and accepting then you have no reason or responsibility to keep her in your life. I’ve had to cut off people before, and it’s hard no matter how close you are or aren’t. But it’s worth it in the end,” Richie said. Eddie nodded.

“Yeah…I think you’re right about that one…but we should get some food because this wine is going straight to my head,” he said. Richie laughed and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea actually.”

They got food from the lounge inside, and finished their drinks with a full stomach. Eventually Mary and Sophie came up to check on them, and apologized on Sonia’s behalf. Apparently they all had an intense conversation with her, and she was remorseful. It was obvious Eddie didn’t exactly believe it, but he appreciated the effort his aunts put in to accept him. He wished them a goodnight with hugs and kisses, and then finished up his meal with Richie before heading to bed as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve updated the amount of chapters are left, so you guys know what to expect. Thank you for reading <3


	8. “I don’t want my mother thinking I’m having sex!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :3c

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe

“Hey, Eds. Guess what?” Richie said with a grin. Eddie was just settling into bed next to him as he gripped the head board.

“What?” He asked with a confused frown.

“I’m pretty sure your mom is next door to us,” he said and wiggled his eyebrows.

“So? What are you on about?”

“Nothing. Just…I wonder what she would think is happening if I did… _this_ ,” he then started to pull the frame back and then push it forward so it hit the wall repeatedly. Eddie instantly turned bright red and tried to hold the frame in place.

“Stop that! Are you crazy!” He squeaked. Richie laughed and then stopped. He sat on the bed next to him and shrugged.

“What? I’m just playing,” he assured him.

“That’s so embarrassing! I don’t want my mother thinking I’m having sex!” Eddie went on.

“What’s wrong with that? It’ll definitely piss her off. Besides, she already thinks we did it last night. Maybe it’ll traumatize her a little bit if it actually sounds like we are,” Richie grinned. Eddie shook his head.

“God no! Absolutely not. I don’t want anybody to hear or think that,” Eddie insisted looking desperate and scared. Richie paused when he realized how upset Eddie was and then gently patted his shoulder.

“Damn. I’m sorry, Eds. I didn’t realize this was such a touchy subject,” he replied. Eddie sighed and shook his head.

“It’s fine. I just…I’m not exactly very sexually active. That’s very private,” he said. Richie nodded.

“I mean, that’s totally fair. Sex is different for everyone,” Richie replied. Eddie nodded too and then pulled his knees up to his chin.

“Yeah. It’s…it’s very different…” he trailed off looking at the sheets. “Sometimes I think I’m broken because of how different it is for me,” he confessed quietly. Richie frowned.

“Broken? How so?” He asked. Eddie shrugged.

“I dunno. It’s just…it’s hard for me to get excited. That was another problem with my previous partners. I just never felt physically connected to them, so when they wanted to have sex I just…it was difficult for me to get into the mood,” Eddie explained.

“Honestly, that sounds more like an issue with the people you were with and not an issue with you,” Richie said. Eddie blinked at him.

“What? No, it was every partner. _I_ was the common denominator.”

“Okay…but how different were all your partners? What did they look like? What was their personality?” He asked. Eddie blushed and then looked away.

“Well…they were mostly women…and they were mostly blonde…and they were all really nice…”

“Alright, so nice blond women don’t get your rocks off. That’s totally fine. You don’t need to be sexually attracted to blond women. That doesn’t mean you’re broken,” Richie assured him. Eddie sighed.

“But like…I don’t know what _does_ , y’know? Like…any time I successfully did something like that with a partner it was because my body was naturally turned on. I don’t know how to trigger it on my own.”

“Probably because you’ve only been fucking blond girls,” Richie pointed out. Eddie glared at him, and Richie laughed.

“You’re not helping. I don’t know why I’m even talking to you about this,” he grumbled.

“Probably because you trust me for some reason. Remember?” Richie said with a smile. Eddie blushed again and looked down at his knees.

“Maybe…I dunno. I just…” he sighed. “Maybe I just have erectile dysfunction. I dunno.”

“Eds, I seriously doubt you have erectile dysfunction. You probably just need to experiment. Find someone you actually like and go from there. Figuring out what you like and what you’re into is a process. It took me a while to find out what I like actually,” Richie said. Eddie was quiet for a moment.

“What…what do you like?” Eddie asked shyly. Richie blinked.

“Huh?”

“Like…what is it about a person that turns you on?” He asked turning even redder.

“Oh…uh, I mean I really like thighs,” Richie said randomly. It was the first thing that popped into his head, and it wasn’t necessarily a lie.

“Thighs? What’s so sexy about thighs?” Eddie asked. He finally met Richie’s eyes with a confused look, and Richie merely shrugged with a chuckle.

“Lots of things. I guess…I really like just touching someone. Feeling the goosebumps on their skin, knowing I was the one who made them. Squeezing them feels really good too. I like to start at the skinnier part above the knee, and then work up until I get to their ass. Ass is great too. I would say I’m an ass man,” Richie described. Eddie’s eyes were on him the whole time, and they were wide as Richie went through his description.

“Oh…what else do you like?” He spoke quietly, but Richie didn’t need him to repeat himself.

“Uh…let’s see…I really like kissing.”

“Just…kissing? Like on the lips?”

“I mean, yeah, but like kissing in general. Kissing the neck, down their chest. Touching them and teasing them at the same time. My favorite thing to do is kiss all over their tummy while I’m squeezing their thighs. It drives them crazy, and when I finally give them what they want they go _wild_ ,” Richie said.

“…what do they want?” Eddie asked sounding a little confused.

“Usually they want me to suck their dick, but sometimes I just go right for their asshole. It sounds gross at first, but if they’re freshly showered it doesn’t taste any different from licking their lips,” Richie told him. He realized he had been looking at the ceiling the whole time, and then finally looked over to see Eddie completely red and flustered. He looked away in attempt to hide it, but it only showed how far his blush traveled down his neck.

“Gotcha…”

“You okay there, Eds? You’re looking a little warm,” Richie noted. He shrugged.

“I dunno. I guess it’s a little warm,” he said.

“Well don’t be modest on my behalf. I usually sleep butt naked anyways, so shed any layers you want,” he assured him. Eddie rolled his eyes and ignored his suggestion as he tried to move on.

“I think my mother just ruined everything for me. She‘s always so insistent that I marry a woman. That might be why I’m so scared to actually date a man. Clearly she wouldn’t approve of it,” Eddie pointed out, gesturing to the both of them.

“Whatever. It’s easier said than done, but stop worrying about what your mom wants you to do. You gotta do what _you_ wanna do or else you’ll just be miserable,” Richie told him. Eddie was quiet for a moment as he took that in.

“You actually make a good point there,” Eddie said. Richie smiled and sat up to see him better.

“While I’m at it, I’d also like to let you know that your mother didn’t ruin anything for you. You’re still here, right? She can’t take away the fact that you don’t exist just to please her,” Richie said softly. Eddie blinked at him and then let his knees down so he sat criss cross.

“Yeah…that’s true too. Thanks, Richie,” Eddie murmured. Richie found himself blushing at the attention from the other man, and then laughed nervously.

“Ah, no need to thank me. I just want you to know that you’re important,” he assured him. Eddie smiled a little.

“You’re pretty good at this fake boyfriend thing. I didn’t expect you to do such a good job,” he said. Richie felt his heart drop a little, but kept his smile anyways.

“Aw, baby you’re making me blush,” Richie teased. Eddie actually blushed and playfully pushed Richie’s shoulder.

“Don’t call me that,” he said despite the slight smile on his lips he was trying to hide.

“But you love it, Eds,” Richie cooed as he caught the hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer. Eddie giggled again and fell against Richie’s chest.

“I don’t love it. I hate it,” he insisted while trying to pick himself up again. Richie gently tilted his chin up, and Eddie’s eyes were wide looking up at him.

“You sure about that, Eddie-baby?” He whispered. 

Eddie’s eyes flicked down to Richie’s lips, and then back into their proper place. Richie took notice and then took a chance to lean in. His eyes fluttered shut as he got closer, and eventually his lips were firmly pressed against the other man’s. It took only a second before they parted, but even then it didn’t take much persuasion from Eddie to get Richie to give him another kiss. He moved his hand from Eddie’s chin to his cheek, and tilted his head to fit their lips closer. Fingers curled into Richie’s shirt, and he happily pulled Eddie closer. The kiss eventually ended again, and Richie felt like Eddie had successfully taken his breath away every time.

“You’re really good at that,” Eddie murmured. Richie chuckled a little and ran his fingers through Eddie’s soft hair.

“Good at what?” He asked.

“Kissing me…it actually feels good when you do it. I was worried I was going to be stiff every time because I’ve never felt comfortable kissing before, but…that first time in the hotel felt incredible,” Eddie whispered. Richie let out a heavy breath, and then pressed their foreheads together.

“Yeah. It really did feel amazing, huh?” He agreed. Eddie smiled and bit his lip briefly before tilting his head up on his own for another kiss.

“Mm…sometimes I wanted to be around the others just so you’d kiss me again,” Eddie told him. Richie caressed his cheek with his thumb.

“All you had to do was ask. I’ll do anything you want me to, Eds,” Richie cooed. Eddie pulled back to look up at the other man, and Richie was enamored by the subtle redness around his lips from their gentle kisses.

“Do you really mean that? Anything?” Eddie asked. Richie nodded and gently touched his lower lip.

“Anything you want, Eddie-baby. I’ll give it to you in a heartbeat,” Richie confirmed. Eddie tried his best not to shiver in response, and instead boldly crawled into Richie’s lap. He straddled his hips and carefully slipped his arms around his neck.

“Can you touch me like you said you like to earlier? No one’s ever been able to turn me on before, and… _oh_ ,” Eddie sighed as Richie welcomed him with his arms around his waist. He kissed down Eddie’s neck, and gently touched down his hips.

“Of course, sweetheart. I gotcha,” Richie assured him. 

He then guided Eddie to stand on his knees, and nuzzled his belly through his shirt as he teasingly pinched down Eddie’s legs. Eddie ran his fingers through Richie’s hair, and hummed with delight as large hands squeezed his thighs. There was something satisfying about touching someone who really wanted it. The way he moved his body into Richie’s caresses was inexplicably beautiful, and he could taste the desire with each breath he took. As he worked his way up towards his goal, Eddie’s fingers started to dig into Richie’s scalp. His nails were making an appearance, and it drove Richie crazy. Each drag against his skull made him squeeze harder, and when he finally reached Eddie’s ass he was nuzzling his belly again to hopefully push up his shirt somehow.

What broke him was the quiet and quivering moan that left Eddie’s lips as Richie touched him. After hearing that he didn’t hesitate to hold his lower back to keep him stable and then nearly tackle him to the sheets. Eddie gasped in response, but sounded happy with the change in position once Richie pushed up his shirt to kiss around his belly button. He ran his hands up and down Eddie’s legs through his pajama pants, and he could easily feel his bulge against his chest as he indulged and feasted. Those hands of his eventually lead up to Eddie’s waist, and he touched under his shirt in a way he knew made people go mad from how good it felt.

“Richie! Oh my god,” Eddie gasped. Richie groaned against his ribs, and then crawled up to kiss him on the lips. The other man accepted the kiss eagerly, and Richie held his face so he could press harder against his lips. Everything he did seemed to please Eddie, so he merely continued and pulled his hands away to push their bodies together.

“Richie…Richie… _fuck_ ,” he panted.

“Is that what you wanted, baby? Are you happy?” Richie asked as he pulled the other man’s leg over his hip.

“Mmh…yes! I want more. It feels so good,” Eddie spoke in such a gentle and hushed way. His tone and those words sounded so sexy in his voice. Richie would’ve been an idiot to deny him of such a simple request. He vaguely remembered Stanley’s warning about not sticking his dick into his boss, but Richie truly was a weak man to his core.

“What else do you want? Anything you want, I’ll do it for you,” Richie encouraged. Eddie moaned in approval, and then pulled Richie down into another kiss.

“You…want you, Richie. Just you and nothing else. Want you to do whatever you like to me. Wanna make you feel good,” Eddie said. 

Richie groaned against his lips. Hearing that did more than tug on his heart. Those words grabbed it, and twisted it, and threw it against the wall. Every syllable leaving his desperate lips made it race and trip over itself again and again. It was beating so fast it almost felt like his heartbeat had a heartbeat. His fingers couldn’t help but curl into the flannel covering Eddie’s legs, and his mouth obsessively kissed all over his face and neck. Nails ran through his hair again, and he shivered from the euphoria. Their bodies were touching at every point that they could, but Richie still craved more. He wanted to be closer, and he made sure to express that with the love bites he left along his jaw and over his collarbones. Eddie was nothing but responsive throughout the whole thing, and his once shy moans quickly turned bold and begging. His gasps and whimpers only turned Richie on more, and he was hopelessly losing his head.

“Fuck… _fuck_ , you feel so warm,” Eddie sighed. Richie kissed his lips again, and then rolled his hips against him. His eyes fluttered shut, and he moaned shamelessly into Richie’s mouth.

“God, you’re so fucking beautiful, Eddie,” Richie murmured before doing it again. Eddie bit his lip this time instead of moan, and blinked up at Richie.

“Take your clothes off. Now.”


	9. “Well, maybe you should’ve considered that before you guys had sex.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Richie is dealing with drug cravings in this chapter and has to call his sponsor. Mentions of drugs.

Let’s make one thing very clear. Richie was very aware that he was making a mistake. He was aware of it after their first kiss that evening, and he was aware of it throughout the entire thing. He was definitely aware of it when he woke up. Still, knowing it was a mistake didn’t make it any less enjoyable, and it didn’t make Richie any less capable of saying no to it. Especially when Eddie sounded so good, and moved so beautifully with Richie’s body. Hearing his moans when Richie went down on him was better than any music he had ever listened to. The taste of his skin was sweeter than any dessert or cocktail he’s ever had. Touching his bare skin was satisfying beyond Richie’s comprehension, and the perfect chemistry they had felt like a dance. Then it was Eddie’s turn to give, and watching those round brown eyes look up at him as he sucked Richie off was a sight Richie wanted to burn into his brain. It was the fastest someone had ever made him cum, and the sight of such a wicked tongue licking up the last little drops was cuter then it should’ve been.

Waking up was like being slapped with reality. They were still completely naked, and Eddie had his arms tight around Richie’s waist. He felt a sinking feeling in his chest as he remembered Stanley’s warning again, and blinked his eyes open to see he had his face buried in Eddie’s soft hair once again. How could he be so stupid? They didn’t address anything before they fooled around last night. What if Eddie thought Richie wasn’t being completely honest and raw last night? What if he thought he was just trying to fill his role as Eddie’s fake boyfriend? God, what if _Eddie_ didn’t take everything seriously last night? What if he just wanted to be held because he was vulnerable? What if his mother made him feel so desperate for some kind of connection and he grabbed at the closest person for it? What if once they get back to New York he pretends like nothing ever happened between them? Richie really didn’t want that last one to happen, and no matter how tight the man was currently clinging to him he was terrified that was the case.

Without a second thought, Richie gently pried himself from Eddie’s arms. The man was such a heavy sleeper, and Richie was impressed with just how tightly he was holding onto him. He eventually got free, and then scurried to the dresser to grab some clothes and then to the bathroom. He showered very quickly, hoping the cold water would help him feel normal, and then dried himself off and dressed himself. When he opened the bathroom door Eddie was still fast asleep, but didn’t look nearly as peaceful as when Richie first woke up. His brows were furrowed, and his arms were reached out hoping to be filled again. Richie sighed and grabbed his phone off the charger instead of returning to his reach, and then left the room.

“Shit…” he sighed, and then headed straight for the bar.

The first thing he wanted to do was snort a line. The second thing he wanted to do was call his sponsor. He had been fully clean for years, but he still had one because his cravings got that bad sometimes. It wasn’t like he was calling Adrien all the time, but he definitely called him a few times a year. His alcoholism was easier to contain compared to his affinity for cocaine, but he was definitely slipping as he automatically ordered a whiskey with no ice at the bar. The bartender handed it to him, and gave him a concerned look. It was warranted considering it was still before ten AM. He checked his phone to see the exact time, and then cursed when he saw the shitty service.

“Hey, is there anyway I can make a phone call here?” He asked.

“It’ll probably go through if you make it on your phone, but it might drop. Best bet is call outside, or use one of the provided phones on the second deck,” the bartender told him. He smiled at her and nodded before knocking back the rest of his drink.

“Thanks!”

He tried outside first, but it wasn’t going through at all. He tried to call Stanley to see if maybe Adrien just wasn’t picking up. He said he couldn’t answer calls in the morning, but Richie was starting to feel desperate. All he wanted to do was drown himself at the bar and ask anyone if they had any blow on them. It was so regressive, and he hated those thoughts circling his brain. But it was the only way he could think to get rid of that guilty feeling in his gut. Guilt was probably the main reason he started consistently using in the first place. He hated feeling guilty, and when he was high all of those bad feelings went away and he could just relax. Alcohol was more destructive, and that’s why it was easier for him to resist. Coke was easy though. It made him feel at peace in the shittiest way. Desperately licking any surface he used to snort it in a pathetic attempt to get every last speck of it. So he tried the phone on the second deck. It was placed neatly on the wall next to an office that was closed. He pulled out his own phone to find Adriens number, and then dialed it. Thankfully, he picked up.

“Adrien? It’s Richie.”

“Richie? What did I say about early morning calls?” He grumbled.

“I’m really sorry, but I’m _really_ not doing good right now man,” Richie said.

“Well shit. What’s going on?” He asked. Richie sighed and closed his eyes as he realized how crazy he was about to sound describing his situation.

“I uh…I found this Craigslist ad to pose as this guys fake boyfriend during his family vacation, and…uh…we had sex last night,” Richie told him. Adrien was silent for a moment.

“Wow. Of all the reasons you’ve called me, I think this one takes the cake,” he said.

“I’m like going crazy right now, okay? I have no idea if it meant anything to him and I’m pretty sure I fell in love with him the first time I saw him. So I’m feeling pretty shitty, and a little bit guilty for letting it happen. Like all I want to do is order a bunch of drinks at the bar and see if someone has some blow on them, because I can’t get rid of this itching feeling,” Richie went on.

“I know the feeling, Rich. Do me a favor and take a few deep breaths, okay?” Adrien prompted. Richie did so, and let his sponsor guide him through it.

“Fuck…” he sighed.

“Look, the cravings never really stop, Richie. I still get cravings from time to time, and depending on how stressed out I am it’s all I can think about for hours. It’ll pass eventually, but you just need to keep in mind why you quit and why you swore you’d never do it again,” Adrien reminded him.

“Right…yeah. Exactly.”

“How many drinks have you had so far?” He asked.

“Just a whiskey.”

“Geez. Based on how you sound I would’ve had at least a couple shots. Good on you.”

“Thanks. It’s kinda hard to go all out right now because Eddie’s family is here and I don’t want to embarrass him.”

“Is Eddie the guy you’re supposed to be fake dating?” He asked.

“Yeah. You’ve probably seen him with me in the news. I haven’t checked anything in days because the service here is so bad,” Richie said.

“Probably, but you know I’ll never seek out stories about you.”

“Exactly…thanks, Adrien. I won’t call in the mornings anymore,” he said.

“Emergencies happen. I just ask you don’t make it a habit.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Richie agreed.

“Find something to distract yourself, okay? Maybe it would be a good idea to actually talk to Eddie about what happen. I find that once the stress is relieved I don’t feel the urge to use anymore. Also, feed yourself. I’m betting all you have in there is the whiskey,” he advised. Richie chuckled.

“Yeah. I’ll do that. Thanks, Adrien.”

“No problem.”

After he hung up with Adrien he pulled out Stanley’s number and dialed it. Thankfully he picked up, and Richie felt like he was finally getting a breath of fresh air.

“Hello? Who is this?” Stan asked.

“Hey, Stan. It’s Richie. I’m using a phone on the boat because the service sucks,” he said.

“Shit, why are you calling me so fucking early?” He grumbled.

“Sorry. Uh…do you remember what you said the other night about not sticking my dick into my boss?” Richie asked. Stan was quiet for a moment.

“Richie, what did you do?” He sighed.

“I didn’t stick my dick in him! We just…kinda had sex last night,” Richie confessed.

“You had sex with Eddie last night,” Stan repeated to confirm.

“Correct.”

“Eddie, the man who hired you to be his fake boyfriend, willingly had sex with you last night?” He asked.

“Yeah, uh…he’s actually kind of the one who initiated it.”

“And it never occurred to you to maybe address the fact that the reason you’re there is to pretend to be in love with him?”

“Sorry, Stan, but my brain was a little more focused on getting my dick wet than the fact that Eddie and I are in a fake relationship,” Richie sassed.

“You need to talk to him,” Stan deadpanned.

“I know! I just…what if it didn’t mean anything to him? Like…what if he was just doing it because…ugh, his mom is such a bitch to him and he probably feels vulnerable and I’m trying my best to comfort him, and like what if he wanted to have sex because he was feeling so bad about his mother being an asshole and rejecting him?” Richie rambled.

“Well, maybe you should’ve considered that before you guys had sex.”

“I _did!_ But he’s just…he’s so easy to give in to. He was so cute, and he asked for it so directly. Like he told me that he wanted _me_ ,” Richie said.

“Then maybe he does like you. You’ll never know until you talk to him,” Stan said.

“I can’t talk to him! I’m gonna relapse if he rejects me!” Richie hissed into the phone.

“No you’re not, Richie. You’re stronger then that. You’ve got three years of sobriety under your belt. You’re not going to throw it away for a guy no matter how cute he is,” Stan reminded him sternly. Richie groaned. He was right, and he knew Stanley was right. The cravings were still there though.

“I just want him to actually love me…I’m so pathetic, I fell in love with him within _seconds_ ,” Richie blubbered.

“You’ll never know until you talk to him. You don’t have to do it right away, but the more you put it off, the more likely he’s going to be upset about it too,” Stan pointed out.

“Shit. Yeah, okay. That’s right,” he said when he remembered how lonely Eddie looked when he left.

“Go talk to Eddie, and remember you’re strong enough. You’re not pathetic, and you’re going to stay sober, okay?”

“Okay…thanks, Stan. I dunno what I’d do without you,” he said.

“You’d be fine, Richie. You just need someone to remind you that you’re okay from time to time,” Stan assured him. Richie chuckled.

“I’ll see you later. Love you, bye.”

“Bye, Richie. I love you too.”

He hung up the phone again and sighed. It took him a moment before he turned around to head back to his room. Just as he was hoping Eddie would still be in bed, he was faced with Mary standing directly behind him with her arms crossed. His eyes went wide at the look on her face, and he cleared his throat.

“Mary! I didn’t see you there. Uh…how much did you hear?” He asked.

“Enough,” she replied.

“Look, Eddie really just wanted to annoy his mom a little bit. I’m sorry that we lied. It’s just—“

“Eddie is really worried about you right now. We should get you back to him, okay?” Mary said in a kinder voice than Richie expected. He shut his mouth and then nodded.

“Yeah…okay.”

Richie followed Mary up to the top deck in silence. He was waiting for her to stop him and say something. Maybe she would chew him out, or ask him questions about what the hell was going on. He hoped she wouldn’t, but he was fully expecting it since what she walked in on didn’t sound good at all. Instead she merely delivered him to the lounge to a very exacerbated Eddie. His eyes looked tired, and he had a stressful looking crease between his brows. He got off the stool he was sitting at in the bar, and marched over to meet them.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You scared me half to death,” Eddie said as they came within five feet of each other. Richie offered a guilty smile and laughed nervously.

“Sorry. I was uh…feeling kinda antsy. I needed to take a walk,” he said.

“He was at the phone on the lower deck,” Mary told him. Eddie looked at his aunt and then to Richie with a little bit of confusion.

“Is everything alright? Are you okay? Who did you call?” He asked. Richie looked over Eddie’s shoulder to see Sonia and the rest of Eddie’s aunts sitting and watching them.

“No one important. Everything is fine. I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said as he gently cupped his face. Eddie still didn’t look pleased, and Richie was out of things he could say in front of everyone to appease him. The other man sighed and then looked to his aunt.

“Thank you, Mary. I appreciate you going out to look for him,” he said. She nodded with a warm smile.

“No problem. I’ll take the girls somewhere else so you two can chat some more,” she said. Eddie nodded with appreciation and smiled back.

“Thanks. I’ll see you later,” he said.

“You too!” She replied before walking off to grab her sisters. Eddie waited until they were out of sight and then turned back to Richie with his arms crossed.

“You couldn’t have left a note? Or, god forbid wake me up for a second and tell me you’re taking a walk? Did it even cross your mind that you left me to wake up alone? What was making you so antsy anyway?” Eddie went on. Richie felt the guilt creep back up his spine, and he anxiously bit his lip.

“Eds, I…” he stressfully ran his fingers through his hair. “I had to call my sponsor, okay? I was just…having a hard time and I needed someone to talk me down,” Richie confessed.

“Your sponsor?” Eddie questioned.

“He’s like a mentor. I got connected to him when I went into rehab, and they’re people who had already gone through the program that help you stay sober.”

“You wanted to use _drugs_ again?” Eddie questioned. Richie groaned.

“Yes! Okay, yes! I wanted to get fucking high again, so I could shut my brain up for a goddamn minute. I can’t really control the cravings, Eds! It’s not like I _want_ to be addicted to drugs,” he snapped. Eddie’s face pinched with pain, and Richie immediately regretted yelling. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to yell.”

“What triggered it? Was it…” he took a stuttered breath. “Was it something about last night? Or…something I said? Something I did?” Eddie asked. Richie ran his hand down his face and then rubbed his forehead.

“Eds, baby, please don’t take this personally. I just…I didn’t know if we were on the same page about it. The last thing I wanna do is upset you, but I was worried I overstepped or misinterpreted something,” Richie said. Eddie’s eyes went glassy, and he sniffled.

“Right. No, I guess we weren’t on the same page. Thank you for making it very clear what last night meant to you,” Eddie said sternly. He turned to leave, but Richie desperately caught his hand.

“Eddie, wait! What are you saying? I didn’t mean—“

“God, this whole thing was just something for you to do, huh? Working keeps the drugs away, right? Did you get your fill? Was this enough for you? Are you adequately distracted yet? I never should’ve posted that fucking ad,” he ranted.

“Eds, please calm down. I took this job because I wanted to help you,” Richie insisted.

“And how were you helping me last night? Was that just a part of the job to you? Are you so far up your own fucking ass you didn’t even consider that I might actually like you?” Eddie snapped. Richie felt his heart fall into his stomach. His jaw dropped, and his eyes went wide with elation hearing that.

“You do? You actually like me?” Richie asked as he affectionately held and squeezed his arms. Eddie rolled his eyes and tried to pull away with little effort.

“Of course I fucking like you! You’re…you’re…ugh, fuck you!” Eddie grumbled while failing to resist the way Richie was looking at him.

“I like you too, Eds. Last night meant _everything_ to me. I ran because I was scared you just needed somebody, anybody, to make you feel better,” Richie confessed. Eddie stopped trying to fight him and instead blinked up at him. His tears had started to fall already, and as he listened to what Richie had to say they fell even faster.

“You…what? Why would you think that? I literally told you I wanted _you_ ,” Eddie reminded him. Richie shrugged.

“I dunno…I guess it felt like it was just too good to be true,” Richie said.

“Richie, you’re the only person I’ve ever felt comfortable romantically with in my life. Of all the men and women I’ve tried to be with before, no one ever made me feel the way that you make me feel. Why the fuck would I ask you to do everything we did together if I didn’t fucking like you?” Eddie cursed him out, and Richie felt his heart fully melt as he heard the other man’s full confession.

“Eds, I feel exactly the same way about you,” Richie whispered and gently pulled him closer by his waist. Eddie let him, and then wrapped his arms around him for a hug.

“Fuck you. I can’t believe you left me to wake up naked and alone like that,” Eddie grumbled.

“…yeah, that’s fair to be upset about. I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Richie apologized. Eddie sighed and then nuzzled the side of his neck.

“Let’s get some food. I couldn’t eat because I was so worried about you,” he said. Richie chuckled and nodded in agreement.

“You have the best ideas, Eds.”

“I know. Now let’s go.”


	10. “My comedic timing is my ultimate weapon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the chapters are basically fluff and smut so enjoy! <3

“How are you doing? Are you still kinda antsy?” Eddie asked. Richie looked up from his nearly empty plate and then shrugged.

“I mean…it’s better now. I think it’ll take a couple hours before I trust myself around the bar again,” he replied. Eddie nodded and then took his free hand.

“Okay. I’m sorry about…earlier. I didn’t mean to sound like you just wanted to use for no reason. I was just…stressed.”

“It’s okay. A lot of people don’t understand much about addiction, so I hear a lot worse,” Richie assured him. Eddie shook his head.

“People are fucking stupid. Ignore them,” he said. Richie chuckled and nodded.

“Will do, Eds…uh, by the way…” he trailed off and cleared his throat. “Mary may have overheard me while I was on the phone, and I was talking to Stan about how we’re not actually dating and stuff…so she knows we’re faking it,” he told him. Eddie sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Jesus Christ, Richie.”

“I didn’t know she was there! I was also trying to recovery from an anxiety attack, so I was kinda more focused on that,” Richie said.

“What did she say?”

“Uh, she basically just said that you were worried and that I should go back to you,” he answered. Eddie blushed, and then pressed his lips together in a thin line.

“Dammit…”

“What’s that mean? Is that good? She doesn’t seem like she would rat us out.”

“She won’t, but uh…she could tell that I…that I wasn’t pretending anymore,” he said with pink cheeks. Richie paused and then leaned closer.

“Wait, when did _you_ stop pretending?” He asked. Eddie looked at him with furrowed brows. His expression begged the question of Richie’s stupidity, and Richie had no defense when it came to that question.

“Richie, I literally kissed you on the beach. _Alone_. With no one around to pretend around, and no excuse to do it,” Eddie pointed out.

“I thought you were just sad and lonely,” Richie said. He knew how dumb that sounded the second it left his lips, but that was his legitimate thought process. Eddie buried his face in his hands.

“Oh my god, I’m attracted to an idiot,” he groaned.

“I think I prefer to be called a dumbass or a moron. Idiot is a little overused,” Richie said.

“I fucking hate you. Why do I like you so much? You’re a fucking menace,” he mumbled.

“So like, that kiss was when it stopped being pretend for you?” Richie asked to clarify. Eddie sighed and then took a sip of his orange justice.

“That’s when I was aware of it. Honestly, I think it was back on the plane. I’ve traveled with past partners before, and…no one really took my anxiety seriously like you. That’s why I wanted to try kissing that night. That, and because I really was worried I would be stiff,” Eddie explained. Richie smiled hearing that and gently kissed his cheek.

“Eddie, darling, you’re a natural,” Richie cooed. Eddie blushed and shook his head as he moved his hands down and onto the table.

“Seriously though, I have no idea what you’ve done to me. Ever since you kissed me for the first time it’s all I ever think about. It’s all I want to do, and it feels so good with you. Not just like in a pleasurable way, but in a safe way. Like I can actually enjoy it and let myself breathe,” Eddie said. Richie felt his heart swell this time, and he reached to hold Eddie’s hand.

“Yeah…I get that. I used to go to a lot of parties back in the day, and being closeted in Hollywood is actually super common. I’d hook up from time to time and…everything felt so empty. Especially compared to now. With you I feel so full,” Richie replied. Eddie held his hand in return, and smiled at what Richie said.

“You owe me for this morning,” he decided. Richie smiled back, and leaned his free arm on the table to be closer.

“Do I? What’s my sentence, your honor?” He asked. Eddie was quiet for a moment as he thought before he leaned in and gently kissed Richie on the lips.

“A late morning nap is a good start,” he hummed.

“A _start?_ What else do you have in store for us?” Richie teased.

“I don’t know yet, but after I’m actually well rested I’ll have a better idea. Also you have to stay for the entire nap so I don’t wake up alone again,” Eddie insisted. Richie took Eddie’s hand and gently kissed the back of it.

“Sweetheart, there’s nothing else I would rather do.”

The boat was planned to arrive in Miami sometime around the afternoon, so there was no hurry to do much except relax. They finished their breakfast together, and then got up to return to their room. In all honesty, Richie was exhausted as well. Taking a nap with the man he’s been so intrigued by for the past month sounded like the best thing in the world. He was still processing the fact that everything didn’t end up a train wreck, and that everything actually turned out fine. The hand pulling him down the hall really wanted to be there, and it didn’t just hold him for the purpose of performing. It was holding him just to hold him, and he felt himself smile at that as Eddie pulled him into their room.

Richie shut the door behind them, and then watched as Eddie took off his shoes and then crawled onto the bed. He was in the same sleep shirt as last night, but he was wearing jeans instead of his flannel. A smile spread across his face as Eddie unintentionally gave him a great view of his ass, and then turned to plop down at the head of the bed. He pulled off his socks, and then looked up at Richie from across the room. He frowned as he noticed the other man was still at the door, and looked confused as to why he wasn’t following.

“Are you coming or not? You better get over here, because I wasn’t giving you much of a choice really,” Eddie said. Richie chuckled and then kicked off his shoes.

“Sorry, I was distracted by the view,” he teased and then approached the bed. Eddie furrowed his brows.

“What view?” He questioned. Richie smirked and then leaned down from the side of the bed to kiss Eddie on the lips.

“Y’know…the view,” Richie hummed and then trailed his fingers down to the side of Eddie’s hip. He blushed at Richie’s implication, but instead of insulting him like he might’ve done in the past he merely kissed Richie again.

“C’mon. I’m tired,” Eddie urged. Richie finally crawled into bed with him, and then buried his face into his soft hair.

“You’re so cute, Eds,” Richie cooed. Eddie shook his head.

“Shut up.”

“But you are! Your hair is so soft,” he hummed happily.

“That’s because I actually take care of it,” he said. Richie nodded and then kissed the top of his head. Eddie had his hands on Richie’s chest as they got settled, and then eventually let them slide under his arms and wrap around him again.

“Cute cute cute…”

“When did…when did you stop?” Eddie asked shyly.

“Hm?” Richie hummed.

“When did you stop pretending? Y’know…when did you start actually liking me?” Eddie reiterated.

“Oh. I basically fell for you the first time I met you,” Richie said.

“What? I was so…awkward and stressed out when we met,” Eddie pointed out.

“Yeah, but you’re forgetting that you’re really cute. That, and your ad was very entertaining. I was already attracted to you for your writing skills,” Richie said.

“Shut up. No you weren’t,” he huffed. Richie chuckled and then moved to kiss Eddie on the lips.

“I definitely was,” he hummed.

“Also, thinking I’m cute is not the same as liking me. I was asking when you started _liking_ me, dumbass,” Eddie grumbled.

“I guess if I had to pick a moment it would also either be when we were on the plane or when you first asked me to kiss you,” Richie decided.

“Great. So when I was having a panic attack or when I was nervous and being stupid. Got it,” he sighed. Richie chuckled and shook his head before kissing him again.

“No…when you decided to trust me,” Richie cooed. Eddie blushed hearing that, and then kissed Richie back.

“Shut up,” he murmured less sincerely. Richie smiled.

“It was funny that you asked about Stan and if he was my boyfriend, because I was calling him to tell him how I was actually falling in love with you,” Richie told him. Eddie blinked at that and then fit his face into the crook of Richie’s neck.

“You really told him that?” He asked. Richie nodded.

“Yeah, and then he told me not to have sex with you. That’s also kinda why I freaked out this morning,” Richie confessed.

“So Stan is a cock block. Got it,” Eddie grumbled. Richie laughed at that and ran his fingers through Eddie’s hair.

“I’m definitely going to tell him you said that.”

“Do not. If you ever want to have sex with me again, then you won’t dare,” Eddie hissed pulling back to glare up at him. His glare softened as Richie pressed their foreheads together, and then moved his hand to cup his face.

“Damn. You really know how to persuade me,” he hummed. Eddie blinked up at him and kissed him on the lips one more time.

“Let’s sleep now. I can tell that you’re tired too,” Eddie cooed. Richie blinked slowly and then nodded.

“Yeah, you got me. Panicking about having sex with my boss really took it out of me,” he joked. Eddie blushed and rolled his eyes.

“I’m not your boss, Richie. This is hardly a sophisticated enough job for me to be considered anything like that,” Eddie said. Richie smiled and chuckled.

“Whatever you say, sir,” he murmured. Eddie shook his head and then tucked himself under Richie’s chin.

“Shut the fuck up.”

They managed to fall asleep eventually and fit in a couple hours before they woke up again. Eddie was the first to move this time, and Richie was happily awoken by the feeling of lips on his neck. He blinked open his eyes and hummed with appreciation as the object of his affection snuggled against him. His fingers threaded through his soft hair, and he was soon greeted with a kiss on the lips.

“I like it when you do that,” Eddie murmured.

“Hmm…do what?” Richie asked while continuing to stroke Eddie’s hair.

“That. I guess you could call it playing with my hair. It feels good,” he replied. Richie smiled and kissed the top of his head.

“I like waking up like this instead,” he said. Eddie smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Me too. We should shower though. I was too panicked before, and I’m still disgusted that you didn’t shower again after what we did last night,” he said.

“I showered when I woke up,” Richie replied in a playfully defensive tone.

“I doubt you actually showered. You probably just rinsed and thought that was good enough.”

“I…yeah, okay. A shower isn’t a bad idea.”

He let Eddie sit up and then rolled over onto his back as he walked towards the pathetically tiny bathroom. The water turned on, and he rubbed at the sleep in his eyes. He assumed Eddie was taking a shower first, and was tempted to fall asleep again when he felt something flop across his chest. He looked down at the shirt that was tossed on top of him, and then looked up to see Eddie standing in the doorway to the bathroom expectingly.

“Are you coming?” He asked. The coy little sparkle in his eyes and the suggestive tone of his voice was enough to wake Richie right up. Just as he was about to fling himself to follow, there was a knock at their door. Eddie seemed to deflate when he heard it, and Richie was quick to scramble to his feet before he could answer it.

“I got it!” He claimed and then cracked the door open a peak. Thankfully it was Mary and not Sonia, but at the same time Richie was still worried he fucked something up since she over heard him talking to Stan.

“Richard. You’re just the man I’m looking for,” she said with a smile. He looked over his shoulder to see Eddie leaning against the door frame waiting for him, and then back to the woman.

“Hey, uh, sorry about earlier. Whatever you heard me talking about over the phone was…kind of not super important—“

“I hope you know that’s not exactly what I want to hear, young man. I think it’s very important that you’re not actually dating my nephew,” she said crossing her arms. Richie looked to Eddie for help, but he was merely standing and waiting. He looked back to Mary and sighed.

“You’re right. I know that’s not what you want to hear. This whole thing wasn’t meant to be so—“

“I may not know everything about Eddie, and I don’t pretend to either, but if there’s one thing I do know is two people in love when I see it,” she interrupted again. Richie blinked.

“Um…what?”

“Whatever the nature of your relationship with Eddie is, fake or not, I think it would be important for you to tell him how you really feel. If you don’t, you might regret it, and I would be disappointed if I didn’t see you again in December,” she said. Richie’s jaw was slack. He felt like she not only could see through him completely, but inside him as well. It was very uncomfortable. “I’ll see you when we dock. Spend your time wisely,” she winked with a little smile before walking off.

It took him a moment, but Richie eventually snapped his jaw shut and then closed the door. When he turned around he was greeted with Eddie’s jeans being thrown at him next, and then blinked at the nearly naked man still waiting for him. He giggled as Richie looked him up and down, and then turned to enter the bathroom. His boxers were tossed last, and Richie had to sigh and take a moment to collect himself. That only took a second before he was throwing the pants to the side and ripping his own clothes off as he followed. He hopped out of his underwear, and then groaned as he scratched off his socks afterwards. By the time he was finally naked Eddie was washing his hair, so it was easy for Richie to step into the devastatingly small shower and help scrub his scalp.

“Jesus Christ!” Eddie gasped as he jumped. He nearly shoved himself against the wall, but thankfully caught himself before he could fly nose first into the tile.

“Sorry, baby-cakes. Didn’t mean to spook ya,” Richie smiled and then wrapped his arms around his waist.

“I’m going to kill you. How are you so loud and yet so fucking quite?” He huffed while relaxing against Richie’s chest. The shampoo was starting to fully rinse out, so Richie pressed kisses against the side of his neck that didn’t have any bubbles.

“My comedic timing is my ultimate weapon,” he hummed as he kissed up to his ear. Eddie shook his head, but still turned his head to meet him for a kiss on the lips.

“You’re insufferable.”

“Just wait until Christmas time,” Richie teased with a happy grin. Eddie turned to face him with a tight frown.

“Shit. I guess this means I have no excuse to not bring you for Christmas,” he said. Richie chuckled and then kissed him again.

“I’ll keep you sane. I cancel out your mother, remember?” He said. Eddie rolled his eyes and then wrapped his arms around Richie’s neck.

“I guess…” he sighed. Richie smiled and then pressed their foreheads together.

“You gotta be careful, Eds. I think I’m falling in love with you,” he warned. Eddie sighed and then pressed another kiss to his lips.

“You’re so stupid…for some reason, I think I’m falling in love with you too,” he murmured. Richie couldn’t help but blush a little and then pressed another kiss, firmer and harder, to Eddie’s mouth. He easily ended up against the tile wall, and Richie was happy to keep their bodies close.

“Mmh…the minute we get back to New York…you’re coming home with me,” Eddie cooed against his lips. Richie bit his bottom lip as he pulled Eddie’s hips off the wall and against his.

“I am one hundred percent in favor of that, my darling. What plans do you have in store for us when we get there?” He asked as he rocked his growing erection against Eddie’s thigh.

“Hmm…I think it’s safe to say you still owe me for leaving me to wake up naked and alone after having sex with me,” Eddie said breathlessly. Richie nodded in agreement and touched down his waist to squeeze his hips.

“Absolutely. Anything you want, baby,” Richie promised. Eddie had such a cute little pout on his lower lip in response that Richie couldn’t resist kissing him again.

“Richie…” he sighed.

“Mhh…fuck, Eds…” Richie moaned.

“First thing I wanna do is suck your dick again,” Eddie spoke against his lips as Richie tried to kiss him more.

“ _Fuck_ , Eds,” Richie groaned.

“I loved it so much last night. You looked so good watching me, and it turned me on so much,” Eddie confessed.

“You look so good doing it I can’t look away,” Richie panted. Their bodies were moving quickly yet perfectly together. The subtle rocking from earlier dissolving rapidly into a desperate grinding against each others members.

“ _Mhhh_ , Richie that feels so good,” Eddie whined.

“God, I wanna eat you out so fucking bad. I didn’t wanna freak you out last night, but I swear I could make you feel so good like that if you want it, baby. Wanna open you up, nice and loose, and push my fingers inside you so I can give you so much pleasure. Wanna make you feel fucking amazing,” Richie babbled. His thoughts directly influenced but the head currently rubbing against Eddie’s hip instead of the one attached to his neck. Still, as out of the blue his words were, they only seemed to affect Eddie in a positive way.

“ _Christ_ , Richie. I’ve never done that before. I’ve only let guys jerk me off, and I’ve never been able to actually put anything inside myself. I always get so scared, but it feels so good when I rub the outside with some lube,” Eddie responded just as desperate and incoherent as Richie was. Richie licked his fingers and then reached around to start circling his warm wetted digits against Eddie’s hole. He immediately gasped and melted against the wall while Richie gave him the most stimulation a man has ever provided for him.

“Like that, baby? You like the pressure like that? Fuck, you look so good like this. Tell me how good it feels to let me touch you here, sweetheart,” Richie murmured against his ear. Eddie buried his face into Richie’s neck and curled his fingers into the curls at his nape.

“Mmmh! That’s so fucking good, Richie. Oh my god…so good…fuck… _shit_ , oh my god,” Eddie rambled mindlessly while Richie kissed his neck.

“Are you gonna cum like this? God, imagine if that was my mouth. Wanna have my tongue all over you. Make you cum just from fucking you with it,” Richie spoke right under his ear, and it made the other man shiver and shake from how good everything made him feel.

“Richie…please…I want that so bad. I want you to make me cum on your mouth, and then cum again after you fuck me with your cock,” Eddie confessed even more. Richie tried to muffle his groan against Eddie’s shoulder, and used his free hand to squeeze the other man’s thighs and up to his hips. He eventually put some space between their bodies, but only to wrap his hand around Eddie’s dick and stimulate him from both sides. “ _Fuck!_ “ he gasped.

“I’ll do whatever you want, Eds. You want my cock inside you? It’s all yours, baby. I’ll fuck you so fucking good. I’ll go as slow or as fast as you want. Make you feel so good, you’ll cry. Wanna watch you take it so bad. I can’t wait until I get you all to myself. I’m gonna fill you up so fucking good, honey,” Richie went on while nosing the side of his neck. All Eddie could really do was whimper and moan as Richie gave him everything he wanted.

“Richie…” he cried and tangled his other hand in Richie’s hair. His face still smushed against Richie’s neck and chest, and his body shaking as Richie stroked him closer and closer to his climax.

“God, you’re so fucking cute,” Richie huffed. Eddie’s jaw quickly dropped, and his hot breath spread over Richie’s collarbones as he shuttered and came in his hand.

“Fuck! Oh my god…oh my god, holy shit,” he wheezed while clinging to his lover. Richie stroked him past completion, and Eddie whimpered with each jolt of overstimulation.  
  
“So cute,” Richie hummed as he let up and then kissed the side of his head. Eddie whimpered and then reached forward with a shaky hand to grab Richie’s cock as well. Richie groaned at the contact, and happily rocked his hips into his fist.

“Tell me how good you’re going to fuck me,” Eddie cooed, still catching his breath as he watched Richie fuck his fist.

“Mmhh…so fucking good, Eddie-baby. I’m gonna fuck you so good, you’ll cry. I’ll make you beg for more. Wanna watch you cum on my dick so bad,” Richie went off all while getting closer and closer to cumming himself.  
  
“I want you to cum in my mouth again. I loved it so much,” Eddie whimpered. Richie moaned thinking about it from last night, and nodded in agreement.

“Fuck…oh my god…” he gasped. Eddie continued jerking him off as Richie stopped moving his hips and then came all over his knuckles. He raised his arm to lean against the shower wall, and let Eddie kiss up and down his neck as he recovered.

“That good?” Eddie asked. Richie nodded and pulled back so he could give him a proper kiss on the lips.

“Great. You have the best ideas, Eds.”


	11. “That’s really over simplified, Rich.”

After they were rested, bathed, and packed, Eddie decided he should probably actually talk to his mom before they dock and immediately head to the airport. Richie couldn’t help but agree, and accompanied him up to the deck where they last saw them. Natasha had sent Eddie a text over the WiFi just as they got outside, and then followed her instructions to the second deck where they were playing card games. The conversation didn’t last long, but Sonia was silent and listening for the first time since the trip started. She apologized, very sheepishly, for being unnecessarily rude, but didn’t seem to want to admit she was wrong in her thinking behind her rudeness and her tone. While it pissed Richie off, it seemed like Eddie was happy just to get a simple apology and gave her a hug.

The boat docked at around one in the afternoon, and they had a little over an hour to get on their flight. They gave everyone hugs goodbye, and Eddie pulled Richie towards their ride he ordered as it arrived. He kept their fingers intertwined the entire drive, and Richie couldn’t help but smile at how cute it was. Where he was once distant he was now explicitly clingy, and Richie couldn’t help but love the velcro suddenly attached to their skin. The only thing that pulled them apart was the TSA, but after that Eddie’s hand easily found Richie’s again. Somehow they managed to have a little extra time before their plane left, so they decided to buy some food. It was more like Richie annoyed Eddie into letting him buy them overpriced hot dogs, and grinned with victory as he seemed to actually enjoy it. He then pulled out his phone, and blinked at the sudden influx of messages he had received from his manager. Instead of reading all of that shit, he decided to just call him.

“For fucks sake, Richard, I’ve been trying to call you for three days!” Steve shouted at him.

“I was on a cruise,” Richie said with a mouthful of hot dogs.

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie sighed. Richie looked over to see him looking down at his own phone and scrolling through Twitter. Pictures of Eddie alone, and pictures of Eddie with Richie were all over his timeline.

“Shit…”

“Look, people are going nuts right now, okay? I dunno why, but this guy that you’re with right now is grabbing more media attention then when you came out. What the hell are you doing? I thought you were taking a job? Not canoodling with some rando in the Bahamas!”

“I told you I was in the Caribbean,” Richie said.

“You’re so dense,” Eddie said. “I can hear everything he’s saying by the way. I dunno if he knows that.”

“Oh, yeah, Eddie can hear you by the way. You don’t need to shout,” Richie said.

“Eddie? Who the fuck is Eddie? What the fuck is going on with you, Richie? You told me you were taking a job, you ghosted me for three days, and all I’m getting are these pictures of you with some man!”

“That’s Eddie. He’s the guy I’m with. Look, he needed a fake boyfriend to make his mom uncomfortable, so of course I volunteered. I dunno what’s so hard to understand here, Steve,” Richie explained.

“That’s really over simplified, Rich,” Eddie said.

“Eh.”

“You _volunteered?_ Did you even get paid?”

“I got a free cruise, so technically yeah.”

“Richie! You said this was a _job!_ Not a vacation!”

“It was technically a job, but I guess it turned out to be more of a vacation,” Richie said.

“Apparently I’m a twenty six year old named John from Manhattan,” Eddie said as he scrolled through an article he found.

“Damn, do they really think I can score a twenty six year old? Don’t get me wrong, your beauty transcends time, and I totally get why they think you’re that young. But honestly. I’m closer to forty than I am twenty,” Richie said. His manager was still yelling at him over the phone, but he couldn’t be bothered to listen. Eddie rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think you understand how much your fan base wants to fuck you,” Eddie said before turning back to his scrolling.

“What? Hey, Steve. Shut up for a moment. Do my fans want to fuck me?” Richie asked. Steve sighed.

“Yes. Richie, we’ve been over this. You’re six two, you have a jaw line, and you sometimes look like you bathe yourself. A lot of people follow you because they find you attractive,” Steve told him.

“I thought they liked me for my voice acting.”

“They like you because you always make out with men when you write skits for SNL. C’mon, Richie. I’m begging you to focus,” he said.

“I guess coming out wasn’t that surprising, huh?”

“No. Anyways…when are you coming home, and who the fuck is in these pictures with you? I need to make sure he doesn’t talk too much about anything for privacy reasons,” Steve said.

“Eddie is right here if you wanna talk to him,” Richie offered. Eddie raised a brow at him.

“Ugh…fine,” he resigned. Richie smiled and then passed the phone to the other man. Eddie sighed, and then accepted it.

“Hello? I’m assuming your name is Steve and that you’re Richie’s manager,” he spoke politely while pocketing his own phone.

“Correct. May I ask for your full name and information? I just wanna make sure I have a way to contact you incase we need to talk again,” Steve requested.

“My name is Eddie Kaspbrak. I live in New York and I work as a risk analyst in New York City. I can fax you all my information once I get back into the office, but until then I only have my personal phone number on hand,” Eddie replied. Richie draped his arm over the back of Eddie’s seat, and less than subtly intertwined their fingers with his other hand. Eddie blushed and couldn’t help but smile a little as Richie inched closer.

“Your personal phone number should be okay for now, but definitely fax that to me when you can. I don’t want any of this publicity to potentially harm your work or Richie’s. If you need me to talk to your boss or anything like that, just let me know,” Steve offered.

“Thank you. It’s good to hear you have my back,” Eddie said. He allowed himself to lean against Richie’s shoulder since they were so close, and Richie kissed the top of his head.

“So, what happened? How did you get into contact with Richie?” He asked.

“Well, I posted an ad on Craigslist asking for someone to accompany me on my vacation with my family to pose as my boyfriend and make my mother uncomfortable. Richie was the one who contacted me first,” Eddie explained in much more detail.

“He…goddammit.”

“He really wanted to do it, so I kinda just let him. It was pretty successful,” Eddie said.

“Can you please hand the phone back to Richie? Thank you so much,” Steve requested. Eddie fought a giggle and then handed Richie the phone. He reluctantly let go of Eddie’s hand, and use the arm on the chair to wrap around his shoulders instead.

“Yellow?”

“So it’s a fake relationship? It’s not real? These photos are just you pretending to be madly in love with a stranger?” Steve deadpanned.

“I mean that’s how it started, but now we actually like each other.”

“So he’s your boyfriend?”

“Geez, that’s kinda rushing it. We only met last month.”

“Richie, I need to know exactly what’s going on so I can tell you what to say to reporters when you land in Newark. There will literally be a swarm waiting for you and Eddie, so stop beating around the bush, goddammit!”

“Oh, fuck. That doesn’t sound fun.”

“I thought you said you weren’t that famous in New York,” Eddie said wrinkling his nose. Richie shrugged.

“Apparently I’m out of touch with my own popularity.”

“It’s because you’ve been missing for three days! And because the only recent pictures of you are with this man no one has ever seen before!”

“Whatever. Can you get a car ready for us when we land? I’m just gonna say no comment and walk out. We’re fucking tired, Steve,” Richie whined. Eddie sighed in agreement and closed his eyes as Richie ran his fingers through his hair.

“Sure, I’ll get that ready for you, but I’ve been fighting off reporters all week. You’ve got like six major magazines wanting to interview you,” Steve told him.

“Well, shit,” Richie hummed.

“They can interview you later. I still have the rest of the week off,” Eddie cooed as he tilted his head up to speak under Richie’s ear.

“Uh, can you hold them off until Monday? I’m kinda busy until then,” Richie asked.

“ _Monday?_ What the fuck are you doing for four days?” Steve snapped.

“Eddie,” Richie replied simply. Eddie frowned as he sat up to pull away and cross his arms.

“Jesus Christ, Richie. What the fuck?”

“Look, tell them I’ll do the interviews, but I’m busy until Monday. I’m sorry, but I’m very much dedicated for the next few days,” Richie said.

“You’re so gross,” Eddie said wrinkling his nose. Richie smiled watching it, and then leaned over to kiss his nose once it was relaxed.

“You’re so cute,” he hummed in response.

“I don’t know how to deal with you now. This was worse then when you were on drugs,” Steve sighed.

“Hey, relax man. Just chill out. I’ll text you later okay? I have service now, so I can actually contact you,” Richie assured him.

“Whatever. Try not to talk to any reporters,” Steve said before hanging up abruptly. Richie sighed and then put his phone away. Eddie was still trying to be distant, but Richie easily persuaded him back by kissing the side of his neck and returning his arm around him.

“I see I’m not the only one who gets stressed out working with you,” Eddie hummed.

“Steve is always one second away from an aneurysm. He’s not special,” Richie assured him. Eddie giggled at that and turned his head so their foreheads met.

“Do you really wanna spend the rest of the week with me? We’ve basically been hanging out everyday for the past month,” Eddie pointed out. 

“Of course I do. That’s kind of the idea of liking someone? You want to spend all your time with them,” Richie replied.

“I guess so…”

“Would you rather I leave sooner—“

“No! Just…” he blushed bright red at his interruption. “Um…sorry. I mean, I’d like it if you stayed, but you can do whatever you want,” he said. Richie chuckled and then kissed his cheek and over his jaw.

“I’ll stay. It’s not like I have anything better to do,” he hummed and then kissed closer to his earlobe. “Besides, I have a promise to keep, remember?”

“What promise?” Eddie asked. He sounded a little confused, but mostly sedated by Richie’s kisses.

“This morning…in the shower…” he murmured between kisses down his neck. Eddie blushed bright red. “Did you think I wasn’t taking it seriously when you asked me to fuck you? Because I took it _very_ seriously, baby.”

“Christ, Richie,” Eddie mumbled and let his head fall against his chest. Richie laughed and then ran his fingers through his hair.

“Too much?”

“We’re about to get on a two hour flight. I don’t want to be fighting off a boner the entire time,” he grumbled. Richie kissed the top of his head, and rubbed his shoulders.

“Alright, fair enough. I guess that makes sense.”

“Although, if you want to spend the weekend with me, then we might just do all that stuff later because I’m so emotionally and physically exhausted from that trip. I’m ready to at least nap again first,” he murmured. Richie checked his watch and then shrugged.

“Eh, we might just call it a night and just go to sleep early. Depends on how quickly we can dodge the mob of reporters when we land,” Richie said.

“Ugh. Fuck you and your stupid job,” he sighed. Richie smiled and kissed his head again.

“Yeah.”

It wasn’t long after Steve called that the plane was ready to board, and by the time it was taking off Richie was close to passing out himself. He stayed awake long enough to make sure Eddie wasn’t having a panic attack, but eventually he was persuaded by Eddie leaning on his shoulder and giving him the perfect place to rest his cheek. He was woken up when Eddie lifted his head in response to the turbulence, and when the plane finally touched the ground again Richie was rubbing at the kink in his neck from sleeping like that for so long. They decided to wait until the plane was mostly empty before leaving, and cautiously walked out of the airport with their carry-on bags. Sure enough there were more than a few tabloid and magazine reporters outside, but luckily they were waiting at an entirely different door. They almost made it to the car before one spotted him, and suddenly Richie had six cameras flashing at him at once. He blinked at them as they started to rush over, and then waved before Eddie pulled him into the car.

“You’re an idiot,” Eddie sighed as he closed the door. Richie laughed.

“Fair enough. Go ahead and give him your address,” Richie said nodding towards the driver.

“Right…”

Thankfully no one followed them past New Jersey, so they easily made it back to Eddie’s apartment safely. Eddie was on the phone with his friend Beverly for the entire drive, and Richie made sure to say hello before he could hang up. Richie sent a text to Stan as well, but didn’t try to call him since he wanted to spend most of his time focusing on Eddie. It was more like all he _could_ focus on was Eddie, and he also didn’t want to explain to Stan how his advice was shit until he was certain whatever he had with Eddie was official. The car brought them right to Eddie’s apartment building, and they thanked him as they climbed out of the car. Richie made sure to tip him very well in cash, and then let himself be tugged away from the car and inside the building.

“Fuck, I never thought I’d be so happy to be home,” Eddie sighed as he unlocked his door and walked in. Richie smiled and closed the door behind him as he set his bag down in the kitchen.

“Yeah?” He asked. Eddie instantly went to his fridge and pulled out a sparkling water. He popped the tab and nodded before taking a sip.

“Yeah…my god, I need another shower. I have circulated airplane dust all over me,” he groaned. Richie chuckled and then came up behind him to hug and kiss him.

“You’re just as tasty, Eddie spaghetti,” he cooed.

“Shut up. You should shower too,” Eddie told him.

“Okay. Are we showering, or are we _showering?_ “ Richie asked and emphasized the latter with a playful roll of his hips.

“Mmm…just a shower. I still wanna nap first,” Eddie sighed. Richie kissed his cheek chastely.

“I’ll get the water running then,” he said sweetly. Eddie smiled and turned his head to kiss him on the lips.

“Thank you…” he murmured.

“Of course. Anything you want,” Richie reminded him. Eddie cupped his cheek and then pressed their foreheads together.

“Yeah? You really mean that?” Eddie hummed. Richie nodded and smiled.

“Absolutely anything.”


	12. “Wait, did you use to masturbate to my stand up?”

Just showering with Eddie was very nice actually. While Richie would’ve been up for anything he wanted, he was rather thankful he wanted to take it easy until they got some proper rest. They shared a few heated kisses while they were bathing, but other than that they mostly kept it calm. Richie was just enjoying all the heat from Eddie’s body and from the water, but it had also been a long time since he could express affection so easily. For a long time he though he needed drugs to keep people around him. He had entire relationships with people completely dependent on his ability to supply coke for before and after. The last time he had sex that didn’t depend on his ability to get his partner high was literally that morning, and before Eddie it was when he was in college. Needless to say, it was nice not having that expectation to provide his unhealthy coping skills in order to be intimate with another person. That, and he was just completely smitten with Eddie like he’s never been with another person before.

The shower was nice and quick, and as they dried off Richie realized he didn’t have anymore clean clothes leftover from the trip. Eddie couldn’t help but laugh at him as he stared at his duffle bag full of dirty clothes, and then suggested they toss them in his washer and dryer once they were well rested. He agreed, and for the time being slipped on his last pair of clean boxers and joined Eddie in bed less than half naked. Eddie didn’t seem to have any complaints as he settled in with a baggy teeshirt and a pair of boxers as well. Instead he merely snuggled up against Richie’s chest and touched the chest hair suddenly at his disposal. Richie chuckled at that, and pressed a kiss to his still damp hair.

“You’re adorable,” he cooed. Eddie shook his head and then nuzzled under his chin.

“…hey, Richie?”

“What’s up, Eds?” Richie replied.

“When you said you like me too…did you mean that in a serious way? Or…or is this just kinda fun for you right now in the moment?” Eddie asked. Richie blinked hearing that question, and then hugged Eddie closer.

“Of course I meant that in a serious way. Did I do something that made it seem like I didn’t?” He questioned. Eddie shook his head and then kissed his collarbone.

“No, I just…I wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. I’m so used to the other person taking it extremely seriously while I was just doing it because I had to, and I just realized I’d have no idea how to tell if it was reversed for me,” Eddie said.

“I’m very serious about this, Eds. I’d be stupid to let you go any time soon,” Richie purred and kissed his head again. Eddie sighed happily and squeezed him around his waist.

“I don’t wanna…move too fast or anything, but if this weekend goes well then I think I’d like to be official,” Eddie announced. Richie froze for a moment to take that in and then nodded.

“Yes. Absolutely. I am so all for that, sweetheart,” he agreed. Eddie smiled against his skin, and Richie kissed his head again in response.

“I don’t want the media to be stalking me anymore though. I’m not really thrilled with that,” he said. Richie chuckled.

“Okay. Fair enough, Eds.”

There was nothing easier than falling asleep in the arms of a lover. For some reason Richie didn’t think falling asleep would ever be so pleasant before, but after the past twenty four hours he was sorely mistaken. The warmth, the comfort, the satisfaction of holding someone he wanted to be so close with. It was incomparable to any other sleep aid he’s ever used. Especially when he snuggled closer, held him tighter, and pressed soft kissed to his skin as they slowly drifted off together. No one had ever been so soft and lovely to Richie before, and he could feel it soothe a spot in his heart he didn’t realize was sore until now. He fell asleep very quickly, and he was more than happy to do so listening to the sound of Eddie’s breathing.

Waking up with Eddie for a third time within a twelve hour period was complete bliss. His hair was finally dry, and the texture against Richie’s lips was extremely satisfying. Their legs were tangled up together, and Eddie was still sound asleep against his chest. He stroked his spine ever so gently through his shirt, and felt giddy when that made him shift and nuzzle against his neck. He did it again, and then reached up to caress his jaw. Eddie hummed very happily, and then touched down Richie’s chest. _That_ definitely felt good, and Richie threaded his fingers through Eddie’s hair to encourage him. He was quiet as he touched more of his skin, and eventually trailed over his shoulder. Richie moved his own hand back to Eddie’s spine, and that lead Eddie’s touch over his bicep.

“Are you awake?” Richie whispered. Eddie nodded and squeezed the muscle in his arm. It always surprised Richie just how much bulkier he had gotten since high school. His lanky teenage body was so awkward, and having arms that finally didn’t resemble angel hair pasta was very nice.

“How’s the gun show?” Richie teased.

“Mm…nice,” Eddie murmured. Richie chuckled and softly rubbed the base of his spine. Eddie hummed in approval, and then stretched before tilting up his head to look at him.

“Well hello,” Richie said with a smile. Eddie smiled back.

“I’d say good morning, but I have no idea what time it is,” he murmured. Richie chuckled, and then kissed the top of his head.

“I have no idea either,” he replied. Eddie sighed and then reluctantly pushed himself up.

“I’m going to brush my teeth. You better do the same if you want me to kiss you at all later,” he announced while crawling out of bed. 

Richie watched him leave his bedroom into his bathroom, and then got up to pull his phone out of his jacket he left on the ground. They got to Eddie’s apartment around four thirty, and they didn’t seem to sleep very long since then. It was still before ten, and his phone was filled with more texts from his manager. He ignored them, and then grabbed his tooth brush and toothpaste from his duffle bag to join Eddie in the bathroom. Eddie already had a mouthful of foam, and Richie smiled seeing that as he kissed his neck. Eddie let him and then leaned over to spit.

“Is it morning yet?” He asked. Richie chuckled.

“Not even close to midnight,” he replied.

“Damn. I guess we barely got here in the evening,” he hummed. Richie nodded in agreement and kissed his neck again while slipping his hands over his hips.

“Yup. Guess we have to find a way to fill our time until we sleep for real,” Richie murmured suggestively. Eddie didn’t seem to oppose his touch, but he didn’t feed into it quite yet either.

“Brush your teeth first. I’ll put your laundry into my washing machine while you do,” Eddie said. Richie laughed and then nodded.

“Alright. Sounds good,” he agreed.

Richie brushed his teeth as instructed and peeked out of the bathroom for a moment to see Eddie wrinkling his nose in disgust as he carried the duffle bag out of his room. He smiled to himself as he left, and then returned to the sink to spit. It wasn’t long until he finished and Eddie came back. They met in the middle of Eddie’s bedroom, and Richie couldn’t help but notice the light flush on his cheeks as they looked at each other. Eddie bit his lip for a brief moment before clearing his throat and adverting his gaze from Richie’s chest.

“Um, are you hungry at all? I haven’t eaten since we were in the airport,” he said. Richie nodded.

“Yeah, I could eat,” he agreed. Eddie nodded back, and then promptly turned to lead him into the kitchen. Richie couldn’t help but find his awkwardness a little endearing, and happily followed the other man into the kitchen.

“If you weren’t so freakishly talk and broad I’d at least lend you a shirt, but I’m afraid you’d stretch it too much,” Eddie said while he walked into his kitchen.

“Oof. Freakishly? I don’t think I’m /that/ tall. I mean, yeah six two is tall, but there are some motherfuckers out there that are six eight,” Richie pointed out.

“And those motherfuckers are usually in basketball,” Eddie pointed out and then opened his fridge. Richie sat on one of the stools for his peninsula, and leaned his elbow on the counter as he watched Eddie pull out sandwich meat and cheese. “Fuck, I need to go shopping.”

“Yeah?” Richie asked. Eddie nodded and set the ingredients down to grab the bread he had at the top of the fridge.

“Yeah. I was running low before we left, and I figured it wasn’t worth grocery shopping if it was all just going to sit in my fridge for three days,” he said.

“That’s fair.”

“Is ham and cheese okay for now? We can order something if that’s not enough,” Eddie said. Richie nodded.

“That’s okay. I like a good ham and cheese sandwich,” he assured him. Eddie smiled and then pulled out a couple slices of bread.

“Alright, but don’t complain if you get hungry later and the take out is closed.”

It was amusing watching Eddie make Richie a sandwich. Mostly because he seemed to know what he was doing, but still slapped things on rather sloppily considering everything Richie knew about him. It still looked good to eat, and Richie had no complaints as he stuffed it in his mouth. Eddie was only halfway through his own when Richie finished, and offered to make him another one. He accepted, and then happily scarfed down the second sandwich. It was only when he was wiping the crumbs off the counter that he realized Eddie was watching him with an amused smile. It was much like the one Richie wore when he watched Eddie make the sandwiches, and it made him blush lightly and smile back.

“Good?” Eddie asked. Richie nodded.

“Really good. You’re a great cook, Eds,” he replied. Eddie rolled his eyes and started putting the hand and cheese back into the fridge.

“I know how to feed myself and make sure I don’t die,” he said. Richie chuckled.

“Fair point…so, uh…” he trailed off to clear his throat. “About…what we were talking about earlier,” he said. Eddie slowed down as he grabbed the bread, and then twisted the bag shut as he placed it back on top of the fridge.

“Earlier?”

“Y’know…in the shower, and then in the airport, and then before we went to bed…”

“Right…what about it?” Eddie asked all too innocently. Richie chuckled awkwardly and then scratched the back of his head.

“I mean, I could ask you the same thing. You seemed to be really interested in certain things this morning,” Richie said. Eddie’s blush finally returned, and he bashfully looked down at the counter.

“Did I?”

“Well, unless you meant something else when you were begging me to fuck you,” Richie said, feeling emboldened by Eddie’s shyness returning. His blush got hotter and he frowned hearing that.

“I wouldn’t say I was begging.”

“Right. You just really wanted to talk about how good it would feel if I put my dick inside you. Fair enough,” Richie replied frankly. Eddie stiffened hearing that and covered his mouth with his hand. “Do you have lube? Condoms?” Richie asked. He lowered his hand and sighed.

“…I have a box and a small personal bottle in my nightstand. The condoms are probably almost expired though. I got them a long time ago with my last girlfriend,” Eddie told him.

“Ah. I’m guessing you didn’t use them much with her?” Richie said with a smirk. Eddie rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Obviously not. She wanted to buy them with me for whatever reason, and it was before we had really done anything. She thought that once we did some penetration I would actually be interested in sex more, so she made me get the bigger box. Clearly…uh, she was wrong,” Eddie explained. Richie shrugged.

“Eh, how was she to know? Good on you for humoring her though,” he said. Eddie chuckled a little, but it sounded more bitter than amused.

“It’s so weird. I really did think there was something wrong with me. So many of my exes expected me to want sex from them all the time, but I just didn’t,” Eddie said.

“I mean, everyone is different. Just because we’re guys doesn’t mean we only think about sex. Sometimes I think about birds, but only because Stanley likes to go birdwatching and I have to keep track of the names of the birds he tells me about,” Richie rambled. Eddie blinked at him and then ran his fingers through his hair.

“What doesn’t make sense is why I’m so sexually attracted to _you_ of all people. Like…why? Why are you the thing that gets me going? I used to be such a big fan of you a few years ago, and I didn’t understand why I liked you so much because your humor is so fucking stupid,” Eddie confessed. Richie perked up hearing that.

“You were a fan?”

“Is that seriously all you got from that?” Eddie sighed. Richie nodded.

“Yes.”

“Ugh, _yes_ , okay? I was like weirdly borderline obsessed with your stand up and it started to get extra weird because whenever I watched your stuff I would get randomly turned on for no reason. You were just talking! Telling your shitty jokes, and I’d get hard!” Eddie blurted. Richie’s jaw dropped,

“Wait, did you use to masturbate to my stand up?” Richie asked with an excited twinkle in his eyes. Eddie went bright red.

“No! I never masturbated while watching your shows. I’d turn them off first.”

“Oh my god, wait…you’re serious?” Richie was aware he had the biggest grin on his face, but he couldn’t hide his excitement hearing that. Eddie on the other hand couldn’t look more embarrassed.

“I…um…yeah?”

“That’s like kinda hot,” Richie said. Eddie shook his head.

“This just sounds creepy, Richie. I think your narcissism is getting the best of you.”

“Is that why you were imagining me when you wrote that ad? That would also explain why your mother hates me so much,” Richie said. Eddie’s blush returned with a vengeance.

“That…might’ve been a subconscious motivator. I dunno. I just wanted to piss off my mom.”

“And now I’m all yours for the next three days. Should I start performing my old bits to get you in the mood?” Richie teased while wiggling his brows. Eddie rolled his eyes and shook his head before heading for his bedroom.

“Whatever. You’re an asshole,” he grumbled. Richie quickly jumped up to catch his wrist before he could leave. He unintentionally tugged the other man into his arms, and Eddie gasped as he landed face first into Richie’s chest. 

“Shit, sorry. Are you okay?” Richie asked. Eddie nodded and then gently pushed himself back with his hands on Richie’s body.

“I…yeah…”

“I didn’t mean to make fun of you, okay? I’m sorry, Eds,” Richie assured him. Eddie blinked up at him and let his hands subtly smooth down his chest.

“It’s okay…I just…it’s embarrassing how attracted to you I am,” he replied.

“How come? I’m attracted to you. Like a lot. Like I wanted to actually date you for three days when we first met,” Richie said. Eddie sighed and stepped closer to touch over his shoulders.

“I dunno. Maybe because celebrity crushes are cringy? Internalized homophobia? Heteronormativity? The fucking god complex you have sometimes when someone says they like you?” Eddie listed. Richie chuckled and gently brought his hands over Eddie’s hips.

“Damn. That’s a lot to unpack. I’ll start by saying that nothing you said was creepy or cringy in the slightest. That’s very understandable and nothing compared to the things teenagers apparently say about me online,” Richie assured him. Eddie rolled his eyes and then focused on his biceps. “As for the other stuff, I think that’s totally understandable. I still struggle with it too sometimes. I had to be completely blitzed to hook up with guys in college.”

“I wouldn’t even go near alcohol in college unless I was alone. I was too scared I’d try to kiss a guy if I did,” Eddie nodded.

“Yeah, smart choice. I must’ve fucked so many dudes in my senior year. Anyways, as for the god complex thing, that’s just a front, y’know? I get happy because it’s hard for me to believe that someone actually likes or appreciates me. I’ve been so convinced over the years that I’m worthless, so when people say they think I’m worth something it makes me not want to believe it,” Richie explained. Eddie was quiet for a moment, and then looked up at him in the eyes.

“You’re worth so much to me, Richie. I can’t even begin to fathom the idea of you being worthless,” he murmured. Richie blinked, and then pressed his lips together in a thin line.

“Eds, if you say some shit like that again, you’ll make me cry,” Richie warned. Eddie smiled and giggled before reaching up to kiss Richie on the lips.

“C’mon. You have a promise to keep, remember?” He hummed as he slid his hands down to Richie’s wrists. Richie grinned hearing that and followed as his lover pulled him down the short hallway to his bedroom.

“Yeah? What promise?” He asked. Eddie stopped them outside of his door to pulled Richie down into another kiss. This one was longer and more drawn out as he wrapped his arms around Richie’s neck and welcomed the ones around his waist.

“I asked you to fuck me, didn’t I?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is the last chapter!! So excited for y’all to read it <3


	13. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

The first thing Richie wanted to do was get Eddie completely naked. There was something so beautiful about his bare skin, and he couldn’t seem to get enough of it. He happily followed the other man into his bedroom, and then didn’t hesitate to start pulling at his shirt. His hands instantly ran up his waist, and Eddie only seemed to melt and moan in approval as they kissed. Hot breath hit Richie’s lips between kisses, and he pressed their bodies together in response before crouching slightly to pick him up. Eddie gasped and yelped in surprise, and his chest was heaving as Richie pinned him to the end of the bed and looked down at him. His cheeks a stunning red, and his eyes wide with lust and anticipation. He looked like he truly had no idea what Richie was going to do next, and he loved that.

“You’re so hot, Eddie,” Richie murmured before leaning over the edge of the bed and kissing him on the lips. Eddie accepted his lips, and eagerly kissed back as Richie pressed his hips between his legs.

“Mhh…Richie…fuck,” he breathed while slipping his fingers up in his hair. Richie hummed in approval, and then kissed him harder. With his lips preoccupied, Richie subtly ran a hand down his waist until he got to his legs and pushed against the back of his thigh.

“So cute. You’re fucking adorable, Eddie-baby,” Richie murmured while squeezing up and down his leg. Eddie whimpered and used his other leg to wrap around Richie’s waist.

“Mh…are…are you going to fuck me or what?” Eddie stammered while trying to compose himself under Richie’s touch. He chuckled as his lover struggled to think and speak clearly, and then pulled back completely to strip him of his boxers. Eddie let him, and helped him with his ankles too. 

The smaller man started to inch back, but Richie merely pulled his ass flushed with his hips. He gasped at the feeling of Richie’s bulge against his ass, and furrowed his brows as they shifted just enough to feel some friction against his hole. The flush creeping down his neck told Richie that he liked that, and he ground his hips into it before he moved on. Eddie moaned out loud in response, and then gasped again when Richie pushed his legs together and then flipped him. He grabbed the sheets until his knuckles turned white, and Richie crouched down to properly inspect the area he was so intrigued by that morning in the shower. His hands automatically squeezing his cheeks, and then spreading them just to feel the other man shutter and breathe differently in response. He smiled and then ran his tongue up his thigh and over his cheek. His appendage stopping before it got too close, and Eddie whimpering in disappointment when the warm trail of spit stopped just before his hole.

“Richie, oh my god,” Eddie sighed.  
  
“You like that, baby? God, you’re so fucking cute. You’re already shaking,” Richie cooed.

“Yeah, because you’re fucking _teasing_ me,” Eddie grumbled. Richie chuckled, and then hovered over his hole. He let a drop of spit slowly fall from his lips and onto Eddie’s puckered flesh. He flinched in surprise, and then moaned as Richie spread it with his thumb.

“How’s that? Good enough for you?” Richie asked. Eddie’s response had less words than syllables, and Richie figured he wasn’t doing too bad. He circled his thumb more precisely around his hole before gently applying pressure without pushing in quite yet. He pulled his thumb out of the way before letting another string of spit fall against his skin.

“Fuck…” Eddie huffed as Richie’s warm saliva met his skin.

“This is all you’d do, right? Just rub yourself like this? All nice and warm with your spit while you jerk yourself off?” Richie hummed before kissing his cheek.

“Mmhhh…mhh, yes. Yeah, I’d…I’d be so embarrassed to do it, but it feels so fucking good. I’d lick my fingers a-and bend myself over to reach it,” Eddie confessed. Richie groaned at the imagery provided and then kissed closer to his thumb.

“Fuck. Did you ever wanna do more, baby?” Richie asked. He gently introduced his tongue around his rim, but it was little kitten licks that didn’t even touch his thumb as he continued rubbing circles against him. Still, it seemed to drive Eddie mad.

“Y—yes! So much. I’ve always been tempted to actually use my lube and…a-and finger myself. I was always too fucking scared though, and I hate that I’ve never done it,” Eddie rambled. Richie smirked hearing that and gently pushed against his hole again. Eddie’s body went tense, and Richie tried to calm him down by using his other hand to massage behind his balls. He instantly moaned and melted, and that made it much easier to ease his thumb inside him.

“I’m kinda glad you didn’t. Because now I’m the first thing that’s ever been inside you,” Richie said. Eddie’s face was buried into the sheets as Richie fit in his first knuckle, and he moaned louder as he slowly rocked it back and forth. He spit directly onto Eddie’s hole, and loved the little shivers his lover gave him in response.

“ _Jesus fucking Christ_ ,” Eddie groaned into the sheets.

“You’re taking it so well, baby. Love the way your body reacts to me,” Richie hummed and finally started licking around his thumb. Eddie whimpered and arched his back to present himself perfectly for the other man.

“Richie… _fuck_ , Richie,” he panted. Richie pulled his thumb out, and while the other man was devastated from the loss he was quickly distracted by Richie spreading his cheeks again and running his tongue slowly and directly over his hole. “ _Holy fucking shit!_ “ he whined.

“You’re so fucking hot,” Richie rasped before quickly lapping at him again. He continued much faster from before, and Eddie only seemed to love that. He moaned with each swipe of Richie’s tongue, and then cried out as he gently eased in the warm muscle inside him.

“Oh my god…oh my god…o—oh my god, Richie! Richie, _please_. Please, I want more. Richie, please fuck me with your fingers,” Eddie begged while trying his best not to shove his ass into the other man’s face. Richie seemed to want him too, but they both were unhappy to take a pause for Richie to speak more clearly.

“Fuck. Where’s your lube, baby?” Richie asked. 

Eddie took a moment to catch his breath and then pointed to his dresser. Richie got up and opened the drawer to grab the lube and a condom. While he was busy he could see Eddie moving from the corner of his eyes. He returned and found Eddie sat on the edge instead of bent over it, so he leaned down to give him a kiss on the lips. Thankfully Eddie didn’t seem to protest considering what he was doing previously, and instead welcomed it eagerly. He kissed down Richie’s throat next, and then further down his body until he slipped off the bed and onto his knees. Big brown eyes blinked up at Richie while he gently slipped the elastic of his boxers down his hips, and Richie quickly placed the lube and the condom on the bed so he wouldn’t drop them. He let Eddie strip him, and then took a shaky breath as he kissed his hip bones and around the base of his cock.

“I fucking loved sucking your dick for the first time,” Eddie reminded him. Richie bit his lip, and let out a stuttered breath as he kissed the base and used his hand to hold him as he kissed further.

“You’re so fucking good at it too, sweetheart,” Richie sighed. Eddie moaned hearing that praise, and jumped to the tip so he could lick ever so gently at his slit. It was to tease, and to play, and Richie loved it.

“You’re so _big_ , Richie. I always figured you’d have to be because you’re so tall, but I never would’ve guessed you’d be this fucking huge. I fantasied about sucking you off a couple times, and it’s nothing compared to actually feeling you in my mouth,” Eddie told him. Richie clenched his jaw, and then reached down to pull the other man’s down with his thumb.

“Fuck, that’s so hot,” he sighed. Eddie smiled and then sucked on his thumb for a moment before licking and playing with the head.

“So are you. So fucking hot, Richie. When we first met I couldn’t stop thinking about how much more attractive you are in person. I want you so bad,” Eddie went on.

“I’m all yours, Eds. Whenever you want me,” Richie sighed. 

Eddie smiled at that and then finally took him fully into his mouth. He could only fit about half of Richie’s length inside his mouth, but it didn’t matter because Richie was too focused on the heat surrounding his head. Lithe fingers gently stroked the rest of him, and while he appreciated the extra stimulation he couldn’t look at anything except for the pink lips wrapped around him. They pressed against him perfectly, and parted to show how his tongue circled around the head. 

Everything he did was perfect, and Richie shamelessly moaned and groaned as he watched. He ran his fingers through Eddie’s hair, and finally looked from his mouth to his eyes that were fluttering open. They maintained the eye contact for a moment until Eddie closed his eyes in total bliss. He sucked idly on Richie’s cock, and the absolute ease he had turned Richie on even more before slightly nudging his hips forward. He didn’t dare try and push so far that it was uncomfortable, but Eddie seemed to enjoy the little push he gave. He pulled off and stroked the entire length with his hand as he kissed his tummy.

“Please. I want you inside me so bad,” Eddie whispered while touching over his thighs. Richie groaned, and then guided Eddie to his feet before nearly tackling him to the bed. The other man accepted and loved the eagerness, and reciprocated it as Richie desperately kissed him on the lips. He pressed him against the sheets, and pulled away to grab the lube and the condom.

“You want my fingers inside you, Eddie-baby? You want me to stretch you, get you nice and loose, and then fuck you?” Richie hummed as he wetted his fingers with lube and kissed the side of his face. Eddie whimpered and nodded.

“Yes! God, yes! Want you to fuck me so good, Richie,” Eddie panted. Richie groaned and then reached between his legs with his warm and lubricated fingers. “ _Fuck!_ “ Eddie shouted in response to his first proper penetration. Richie ate it up, and sucked on his neck while he slowly eased the digit inside of him.

“There you go, baby. You’re doing so good,” Richie cooed. Eddie only seemed to be able to say swear words, and anything else just sounded like confused noises with no other meaning besides _fuck that feels so fucking good_.

“Richie…Richie, oh my god!” He gasped. Richie fucked him a little faster with his finger, and then paused for a moment before easing in a second one. Eddie swore even more and tangled his fingers in Richie’s hair as he opened him up.

“That’s it, baby. You’re taking my fingers so good. You’re gonna be so loose and ready for my cock soon. You’re doing so good,” Richie encouraged.

“Ahh! Fa—faster. Fuck me faster. Feels so good. Holy _fuck,_ Richie!” He cried. Richie bit his lip and did as he was asked.

“Do you like that?” Richie asked. 

Eddie nodded desperately, and even rolled his hips with his thrusts a couple times. Richie groaned when he noticed that, and then slowed down his fingers in favor of curling them up until he could find what he was looking for. Eddie seemed to whine in discomfort, and eagerly tried to rock his hips to get Richie to return to his previous pace. Before he could complain about it, Richie kissed down his chest and gently licked and sucked on one of his nipples. That made Eddie go quiet from the new sensation, and then his jaw dropped as Richie successfully found the bundle of nerves hidden inside him. His fingers desperately gripped Richie’s hair, and he stuttered out a cry as Richie continued to rub and stimulate inside him.

“F—fuck… _fuck_ , oh…oh my _god_ …” Eddie gasped.

“Is that good, baby?” Richie rasped as he let up from his chest. Eddie nodded vigorously and panted harder as he tried to process how good everything felt.

“So good…” he whined. Richie bit his lip as he leaned back to watch and gently insert a third finger. Eddie’s jaw dropped and his brows pinched from the stretch. He let out a stuttered breath, and Richie was quick to comfort him and kiss the side of his head.

“It’s okay, baby. You got this. It’ll pass,” Richie assured him as he thrusted his fingers to get him used to it.

“Richie…” he whimpered.

“I gotcha, sweetheart,” Richie cooed. He took Eddie’s dick in his hand and eased the intensity with a couple strokes. His lover’s eyes rolled shut from the pleasure, and he moaned in appreciation.

“It’s so much. Holy shit, but it feels good. I like it,” Eddie assured him. Richie nodded and kissed his neck. He returned to his nipple for a moment, and the stimulation in three different places successfully made Eddie moan and melt into the sheets.

“There you go, Eds. Nice and easy,” Richie hummed. He moved the fingers inside him with Eddie’s hips, and slowed him down for a moment to really milk the pleasure out of both his dick and his ass. His body shuddered and flinched from the stimulation, and he reached back to grab at the sheets behind him.

“Oh! Oh, that…mmmh! That’s…” Eddie continued to try talking, but it clearly wasn’t working out for him. 

Richie couldn’t help but find his loss for words absolutely adorable. Still, he felt the need to give his mouth something to do instead, so he let go of his dick in favor of cupping his face and kissing him. Eddie desperately accepted his lips, and happily expressed just how wonderful he felt through each sloppy yet sweet kiss. He let go of the sheets in favor of returning his arms around Richie’s neck. Hot moans interrupted from time to time, but Richie only loved it when they did. There was no reason for him to hold back, and the look of pure pleasure across Eddie’s face was well worth the wait.

“Mm! Richie…wait,” Eddie huffed. Richie slowed down his fingers, and pressed soft kisses to the side of his face.

“What’s up, Eddie-baby?” He asked while stroking his waist.

“I think I’m ready. I just…I wanted to be on top of you if that’s okay,” Eddie requested. Richie froze for a moment before burying his face into his lovers neck.

“Eddie, you seriously have the _best_ fucking ideas,” he said. Eddie mustered a giggle, and then started to push himself up. Richie grabbed the condom, and was suddenly surprised by Eddie pushing him over and pinning his chest down against the mattress with his palm. He blinked up with wide eyes at his breathless lover, and was greeted with a kiss.

“I wanna watch you feel good. I wanna know what it looks like when you’re inside me. I want you so much,” Eddie murmured while climbing over Richie and straddling his waist. Richie’s eyes instantly went to his thighs, and his hands joined them as well.

“Fuck, that’s really hot, Eds,” Richie huffed while Eddie took the condom package from him. He moved back to straddled the tops of his thighs instead and eagerly opened the package to roll it down his length. “I wanna warn you though. Riding is a little intense. You’re gonna feel it really really deep, baby. Is that okay?” Richie asked. Eddie nodded and crawled back up to kiss him.

“Yes. I want as much of you as possible,” Eddie said sounding determined. Richie groaned hearing that and kissed him back.

“Fuck, Eds…” he sighed. 

Eddie continued kissing the side of his face and down his neck as he made his way down his body. He eventually sat up straight and reached behind him to hold Richie in place. Of course Richie helped, and gently rubbed at Eddie’s hole to spread it. He moaned in the cutest way Richie had ever heard, and the head of his cock finally met the wet and puckered skin. His eyes closed, and then his brows furrowed as he started to ease down. The initial push of Richie’s head made him gasp, and he leaned one hand on his lovers waist while the other kept his cock in place. Richie wanted to kiss and comfort him so bad, but he seemed to like it enough without much encouragement. He sank down a couple inches, and then shivered before letting his head down.

“You okay?” Richie asked. 

Eddie nodded and then lowered himself a little further. He could see the struggle he was experiencing between wanting to rest his shaking thighs and wanting to go slow to not overwhelm himself. While the struggle was adorable to watch, Richie still had some sympathy and reached to massage around his hips to help him. Eddie pouted when he felt his lovers touch, and then lowered himself until he was flushed with Richie’s lap. He blinked down at Richie while trying to catch his breath, and his face was such a cute shade of red. There was a wrinkle between his brows from how tense they were furrowed, and his mouth was opened so he could pant heavier. His chest heaving and flushed, and both hands clutching Richie’s sides to keep himself stable.

“You look so good like that, sweetheart,” Richie sighed and touched his thighs up and down. Eddie bit his lip and shifted slightly in response to his heated touch. That triggered a loud gasp, and Richie settled his hands on his hip.

“Fuck…fuck, you’re so big. It’s so deep I can feel it in my fucking throat,” Eddie rasped. Richie nudged his hips up a little bit, and Eddie moaned loudly and breathlessly.

“Yeah? Does it feel good when I do that?” He asked. Eddie nodded and moved himself.

“So good…so good…fuck, I didn’t think I could feel like this…god, this is what was _missing_ ,” he rambled while mindlessly rocking his hips faster and faster. Richie groaned as well and ground his hips with him. The movement made Eddie whine and push down harder on his cock. Richie let his head fall back and moaned from the pleasure of Eddie’s hot, wet, tight body milking his cock better than his fist or mouth ever could.

“Holy _fuck_ , Eds…you’re a fucking natural, babe. You ride my cock so fucking nice. Feels so good,” Richie hummed while gripping his incessant hips. Eddie moaned in approval of his words, and started lifting his body with his grinding. “ _Fuck_ …”

“This is why I never liked sex before… _this_ is why…fuck…oh my god, I’m so fucking gay,” Eddie went on. Richie lifted his head ever so slightly to look up at the other man, and was met with big brown eyes already watching him. He suddenly felt a little bashful, but Eddie only seemed to lift himself more and slam down harder when he saw Richie’s blush.

“Holy shit,” Richie breathed while he gripped his hips even harder.

“I didn’t even realize how much I wanted this…but I’ve wanted it for so long. Wanted to be with a man, and watch him while I made him feel good… _fuck_ , oh my god,” Eddie continued his rambling before slowing down a little and resuming his hot grinding from earlier.

“Yeah? Is this everything you’ve ever wanted, baby? You look so fucking good, Eds. Anything you fucking want, I’ll give it to you,” Richie said, feeding into Eddie’s realizations. Eddie nodded and switched from rapid circles to a harsh rocking back and forth.

“Do anything you want to me, Richie. I wanna know what you like. Wanna watch you feel so good,” Eddie prompted. 

Richie didn’t need to hear anything else. He pulled Eddie down to kiss him on the lips, and then rolled them over so his lover was on his back. He slipped out in the process, but didn’t mind it as he lifted one of Eddie’s legs over his shoulder. Eddie was too surprised by Richie’s sudden movements to register that he was empty, but when Richie pushed back in his jaw dropped and he moaned with satisfaction.

“Oh my god!” He wheezed. His other leg automatically curled against his chest, and Richie had a strong grip on his hips as he drove his own faster and faster.

“You’re fucking adorable, Eds…fuck, I’ve never been so fucking attracted to someone before. So cute sitting on my cock like that. You’re so fucking _hot_ when you move your body like that, it’s so fucking sexy, baby,” Richie said while pushing Eddie into each thrust. His eyes hazy but stuck on Richie’s as he hung onto every word.

“Richie… _fuck_ , that’s so good,” he panted. Richie nodded in agreement and leaned down to kiss him on the lips. His flexibility proved to be in decent shape with his leg still hooked over Richie’s shoulder as they made out. Their bodies were so close and it was so easy for Richie to reach between them and jerk Eddie off as he fucked him faster. Eddie’s body flinched at the extra stimulation and he immediately started shouting and whining.

“Fuck! _Fuck!_ Oh my god, I’m gonna cum!” He warned. 

Richie nodded in encouragement and kept the pace of his hand and his hips as he watched his lover become overwhelmed with the feeling of his orgasm. His eyes squeeze shut, and his body got incredibly tight. It really didn’t take much for Richie’s own climax, and he groaned loudly as Eddie started to relax and whimper with his cum all over Richie’s fingers and their stomachs. He continued until he came as well, and then gently rocked his hips before he became completely soft. Eddie moaned with each push, and then whined with disappointment when Richie pulled out completely.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Richie asked. Eddie nodded, still catching his breath.

“Yes…yes, that was…amazing,” Eddie murmured. Richie chuckled and nodded in agreement.

“It really was, huh?” He hummed. Eddie smiled too and wrapped his arms around Richie’s neck while gently slipping his leg off his shoulder.

“Now I’m very glad we have the weekend together,” he said. He kissed Richie on the lips, and Richie happily kissed him back.

“Yeah? Why’s that?” He asked.

“Because we’re going to do that the entire time,” Eddie cooed. Richie grinned and then kissed his cheek.

“Anything you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s the end! Thank you all for reading along and leaving all your love for this story. It was super fun to write and I’m so happy with how it turned out. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did <3
> 
> You can keep in touch w me in the comments or you can follow me on Instagram! @gay_an_feral


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